Enigma
by xXWhoWantsToKnowXx
Summary: Grace's life has always been a little strange, and she lives by the motto "everything happens for a reason." What reason can she justify events, when she runs into a Yautja predator in the forest one day, that throws her life into an adventure across the Galaxy? She's enraptured by the lifestyle he leads, but slowly and inadvertently teaches him to be a little more Zen.
1. Chapter 1

Some things in life I just haven't figured out yet. Why are we here? Why is the sky blue, yet space is so black? Why are we attracted to some people, yet some we could care less for? If only there was a way to open a book and have all the answer right in front of your eyes. Running your fingers across the pages, the pressure and friction forcing the letters to appear. Or maybe it would be the sensation of heat that burns the letters into the page, only to disappear as they cool.

Except there isn't such a book. A mystical guide to the universe. The galaxy a never-ending void of stars filled with silence. To be up there, let go and just accept that everything that happens might just be for no reason at all. An enigma. The perfect way to describe everything that happens in my life.

"Namaste" I whisper as I place my forehead gently to the ground. I stay there for a moment before rising gracefully to my feet. I turn toward the door headed for the bathroom, reminding myself to clean my yoga mat after my shower. I only need to turn the hot handle, as the water barely reaches a lukewarm temperature. The pipes in my building still haven't been fixed, and sometimes I wonder if it's just my shower that hates me. I used to take such hot showers that I'd come out as red as a lobster, even considering my olive skin tone.

I pick up my bar of soap, gently cleaning my tattoos, then aggressively scrubbing my untouched skin. I only had 5; one on each thigh, on each side of my collar bone, and one on my shoulder blade. I shut the water off, feeling it go cold. I wipe the mirror off as I grab my towel from the door handle and stare at my face for a moment. What made my parents feel the need to reproduce, yet some people don't?

They created my brown eyes, curly hair, wide hips and small chest, yet what made that initial spark to turn me, into me? Turning away from the mirror I finished drying off, hung up my towel, then stepped out of the bathroom. I look around my bohemian style living room decorated with pinks, greens and baby blues.

"Hmm…I should have gone with white." I mumble to myself.

Everything has pillows and throw blankets decorating them, from the couch to the floor pillows, even to the sheep skin rug. Looking at it reminds me to get it dry cleaned. I turn away, headed for the bedroom. Stepping up onto the bed, I turn and lazily fall onto my back, causing pillows to fly everywhere. My short hair starts to soak the pillows, but I find I couldn't care less.

Closing my eyes, I breathe deeply. I bring my knees up, feet sliding against the blankets. I lay there for a moment longer before forcing myself to get up. Heading to the closet, I pull on a pair of black panties and leggings, and my favorite white lace-trimmed shirt. I don't bother wearing a bra.

As I walk back into the living room, I go and fold up my yoga mat. I run my fingers through my hair, forcing it to fall to the left side of my face, the ends grazing my cheekbones. I brush my teeth in the bathroom, throw on a pair of white wedges, my black biker jacket and grab the sheep skin rug in one arm, with my purse in the other.

Open the door, step out, close the door, lock the door. There's a sharp click as the lock slides into place. I stomp my way down 3 flights of stairs, and then around the building to my car. I throw the rug in the trunk, then get into the driver's seat. It takes a few tries to get my car started, and when it revs to life I pull out of the apartments and into traffic toward the drycleaners.

Where I live isn't a small town, yet it's not a big city either. To me it's perfect. You can get to know people, but everyone in town doesn't have to know what you had for lunch. My stomach growls telling me I need to eat. As I pull up to a light I look to my right. The man driving looks a little older than me, possibly 25 if I had to guess. He's attractive in my opinion. He has an angled jaw, green eyes as far as I can tell, and his hair is cut to give him a sharper profile. I start to wonder if he's single.

 _Is he going somewhere or headed home? Maybe he has a wife and kids, and a dog who loves to play fetch, and they go out every Saturday to spend family time in either rain or shine. Or maybe he's divorced and his wife is a bitch, and took the kids and the dog. He only gets his kids on holidays so he needs to choose which ones are more important. Maybe he's thinking about them right now? Or maybe he's thinking the same thing about me. Is that even possible?_

There's a honk behind me and I realize the man beside me is gone. The light is green. I drive for a while longer, then pull up to my destination, grabbing the rug from the trunk before walking inside.

"Hi, how can I help you". The lady behind the counter says.

"I'm just dropping off my rug". I reply, trying to sound polite.

"ok. Here's your ticket number. Place the rug on the counter and you can come pick it up in a few hours". She replies curtly. "Do I need to leave you my number so you can call me?" I ask quickly, not wanting to be there anymore than she currently did. She looked me in the eyes, and I felt like I almost wanted to just turn and leave. _Is she having a bad day, or just a bad life?_

"sure. Why not." She all but growled at me. I wrote my number on a piece of paper, quickly handed it to her, then turned and left the store. I slowed my walk and stopped in front of my car door. _Task 1: drycleaners._ Check. _Task 2: Nothing._ I guess I had nothing else to do today. I unlocked my car door and got in. I took in my surroundings, brainstorming on what I could do to spend the rest of my day.

I took in the spring colors of the trees around me, my mind taking me to another place. What I needed was to be surrounded by trees, fresh nature air, and a good stream or two. Reconnect with mother nature. To feel my toes in the earth, the grit of dirt and underbrush. It would give me a reason to get my shoes off. As I started my car, my stomach rumbled again, so I stopped at a small sandwich shop, buying one to eat on the way, and another to enjoy later. I was planning to be gone for a long while.

I took in a deep breath as I stepped out of my car. The forest was always beautiful no matter the season. It had been too long since I'd had time to enjoy nature. My job was more demanding during the winter months, so I hadn't gotten the opportunity to get out and enjoy a good day Earthing. Walking around my car, I placed my purse and wedges in the trunk, tucked my ID card into my back pocket, _you can never be too careful_ , and wrapped my lanyard around my neck.

The locks shot down as I pressed a button on my keys, acting like a gunshot before a 100-meter dash, and suddenly I was sprinting through the forest, my feet diffing into the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Intrigued

Inspiration: Perfume (solo version) by: Sia

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I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. Blood pumping through my veins making the back of my mouth taste strangely coppery, and my feet were starting to hurt. I eventually slowed to a comfortable walk, feeling out of breath. I was starting to sweat, but I knew I'd get cold too quickly if I took my jacket off regardless of the warm spring breeze.

There were a lot of animals out it seemed. Every step I took scared another rabbit out from a bush, or sent a bird flying out from a branch overhead. They were all chirping calmly, communicating with one another, and every so often 2 would fly out from a branch, one chasing the other. I wondered when the bird mating season was.

"Do different kinds of birds have different mating seasons?" I asked myself, deciding I would look it up on my phone when I got back to my car.

Eventually I came upon a path leading uphill. I checked the bottoms of my feet as I walked, gazing over my shoulder as one foot pushed off the ground, then the other with the next step. I had thick callouses, so my feet weren't scraped up, simply very dirty.

I'd have to watch my step from now on headed up. I had traction when it came to flat land, but uphill was a battle. I climbed over a few fallen trees laying on the trail, but for the most part the path was clear. I don't know how long I'd run for, or even how long I walked uphill, but as the path reached its peak I started to hear the distinct roaring of a waterfall.

I stopped a moment at the top and took in the water. It was a good distance from the bank I stood on, to the ground on the other side, and it was covered more heavily in trees and underbrush than the path I had just come from. I would need shoes to continue, so I decided to head back to my car after taking a break.

I sat down on a rock, zipping my leather jacket up. The slight chill from the waterfall was setting in now that I'd stopped moving, but I wasn't up high enough on the mountain for there to be any snow. If there was, I would have stopped hiking or risked frostbite on my feet. I closed my eyes and honed in on the sound of the waterfall and river. If you listened closely enough the sound could become almost deafening.

The quick rush of water across rocks underneath, redirecting around fallen branches. The hushed sound of the water spraying against the surface. I could distinctly hear a woodpecker somewhere off to my right. My muscles became restless as I listened to the sounds around me, so I took my jacket off as I stood up, placing it on the rock. I always loved practicing yoga in the wilderness. Without the comforting padding of your mat, it gives you an added incentive to hold your balance and not fall.

Breathing in deeply through my nose, I raised my arms high above my head, pulling my core in as far as I could and breathed for a few moments. Sweeping my arms down beside me, I swan dive into a forward bend, palms planted to the earth. I moved slowly through each pose of the Sun Salutation, feeling my muscles loosen with each exhale. The ground scraped my feet, but I pushed through.

"What is yoga without being comfortably uncomfortable?" I said to myself with a slight laugh.

When I came back to a forward fold for the last time, I planted my hands as firmly as I could, spread my fingers wide and gripped the dirt beneath me. Tightening my core, my feet slowly lifted off the ground, and I tapped my toes to my wrists a few times before continuing to sweep my legs wide and up into the air until they met above me in a handstand.

Inversion moves were always the hardest for me, so I had to continually remind myself to breath. Four count in, four count out. Breathing in, legs together I bent my knees and tucked them to my right arm, flowing into side crow then back up into another variation of the handstand. Suddenly there was a growl somewhere to my right. My elbows came slamming to the earth, and I crumpled in on myself from the impact.

I jumped up into a poor excuse of a defensive stance, years from lack of using martial arts catching up with me, and scanned the surrounding area. There was no way I had imagined it. It sounded almost like someone beating rocks against the ground repetitively. A gravely kind of sound, not quite a growl, but nothing distinguishable that I'd ever heard. It was quiet, as if it was meant to be hushed, but I heard it. I had to have heard it. There were cougars in these mountains, but the jingling of my keys would have kept them far enough away while I was running. And a bear wouldn't have been quiet enough for me to sit and listen for this long.

I stood and slowly walked backward toward my jacket, keeping my eyes on the tree line. The moment I touched my jacket all animal noise seemed to stop. Something was moving up there, and it was big enough to scare the daylights out of the animals. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, my years of experience Earthing by myself giving me a large respect for wild animals, and the know-how to recognize when something was NOT to be fucked with. And as of right now, I needed to get the hell out of the clearing.

I knew better than to bolt. Any predator loved the thrill of the chase. I began walking as calmly as I could back down the hill, continuously checking over my shoulders the whole way back. There was still no noise, except for the occasional shriek of an angry flock of birds before they would fly off to another tree. There was something definitely following me, and by the way everything moved out of its way, it was big. Bigger than me even. My pace subconsciously quickened and the moment I rounded the bend and my car came into sight I was sprinting as fast as I'd run into the forest.

There's a moment in your fear of being chased, that you think whatever it is, is bearing down on you. Breathing down your neck and ready to strike. Like in nightmares where you're running toward something but it just seems to keep getting further and further away, but you can feel the shadowy hand of death reaching out and ghosting its fingers across the back of your neck. My body slammed into the hood of my car. I fumbled for my keys before pressing the unlock button, throwing the drivers door open, and slamming the door shut.

My first instinct inside the car was to dial 9-1-1 and pray to god that there was service in the secluded back country road I'd decided to drive up. Feeling around my car for my phone, I realized it was still in my trunk with my purse.

"Shit!" I whispered, looking out the front windshield. Should I get out to unlock my trunk, or just haul ass home? Whatever was out there wasn't a normal animal. The only big cats I know of that scale trees definitely didn't live in the forest, and sure as hell don't jump from branch to branch like Tarzan. Even stranger, whatever it was didn't take the opportunity to try and attack me. Here I was, sitting in my car debating if running to my trunk was worth it and the thing didn't even budge.

I scanned the treeline and saw no movement. Slowly I began opening my door for a chance to get to my trunk. Maybe if I ducked down beside my car and moved slow enough, I would have time to grab my purse and be back in the front seat before it even had time to reach my hood. The moment my drivers door opened I heard the gravely sound again; like someone was gurgling rocks. I slammed the door shut immediately and the noise stopped. It was stalking me, watching me like prey to see what I would do.

Fuck it. I put my key in the ignition, revved my car the life and floored it in reverse out onto the road. The moment I had the car in drive I slammed my foot down on the gas pedal and prayed to whatever deity would listen that I make it home alive.

* * *

 **Thank you to _Coolprix_ and Anonymous for reviewing. Your support is much appreciated. **

**These chapters are going to be short-ish, but I will try and make them longer. If you have any ideas about what you'd like to see happen just let me know, and they will most likely be incorporated. I often times don't even have a story line thought up when I write, just simply write whatever pops into my brain at the time. Unfortunately this is why it will take me a bit to update.  
**

 **TaTa for now! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Followed

Inspiration: Easy by Bonnie McKee

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Whatever this thing is, it's fucking with me. Not like purposefully trying to scare me I think, but more along the lines of just TOUCHING things. It all started the day I sped away from the forest. I made it home safe in one piece, ran from my car up the 3 flights of stairs, and had thrown myself through my front door, locking the padlock. I'd locked all the doors, grabbed my .22 rifle from my closet (though I knew it likely wouldn't make a difference), and a blanket, then propped myself against the arm rest of the couch to stare at the door.

There I stayed the rest of that evening and long into the night, turning on the T.V to play late night news so I could have some sort of background noise. When I woke up the next morning I'd been dazed, wondering why I had fallen asleep on the couch, then the events prior crashing back into my memories when I glanced at the front door.

The padlock was unlocked.

I remember throwing myself off the couch to lock the door, then doing a sweep of my apartment, rifle held in an iron grip. But there was nothing missing. Not from the kitchen, bathroom or even my bedroom. I even went as far as checking my closet. It was large enough to comfortably place a round card table and chairs inside, no doubt it could hold a person larger than me.

But nothing ever seemed to leave my apartment. From that moment on, things just got stranger. Every room that I walked into; if I touched something, used something or even picked it up, the moment I left and came back it would be moved. At first it had scared the shit out of me, years of horror movies flashing through my mind of demons purposefully moving things to make you more afraid, waiting for the moment they could possess you. Then later it became apparent that whatever it was, was possibly curious.

When I'd gone to pick up my sheep skin rug, I threw it onto the floor planning to fix it later, then later in the day I found that it was straightened out. After I made food, ate and came back my knives would be clean. The only thing that was never touched was my china cabinet full of crystal skulls that stood next to my T.V. I was beyond grateful when I found them untouched, fearing they might have been stolen. But every single one was present, and unmoved.

The first time I heard it in my home after getting back to a semi-normal routine was almost torture. I had set up my laptop to connect to my T.V through Bluetooth to listen to YouTube, then cleared away the rugs, blankets and pillows so I could roll around the floor, and just flow into any yoga position that came to mind. I started off easy as usual, forward folds and leg balancing moves for a good 30 minutes. Then after my limbs were warmed up I started to work on my inversions.

I'd been working on my Scorpion pose for some time before this whole mess had started, and I was just itching to get my muscles working again. I planted my forearms to the ground and swept my legs up above me. I flexed my back muscles, and slowly bent backward toes pointed toward the ground. I was just barely able to touch my toes to my head when I heard it. It wasn't a deep growl like the first time I'd heard it, more of a purr. Something you'd imagine a lion would make if he were happy and not trying to kill you.

My whole body tensed at the sound, my balance was thrown off and I pinched a muscle in my back trying to keep myself from toppling over. I forced myself to straighten out, and my knees came down hard onto the floor as I released the pose. That was 2 things I would need to ice later in the day. I turned over onto my butt and swiveled my head around the living room, back protesting the entire time. There was nothing around me; nothing was touched.

I felt like I was going insane. Every time I turned around something strange was happening. I felt I should go to someone for it, thinking that schizophrenia might be the culprit, but I didn't want to be filled with drugs daily. I started to become anxious, my palms were sweating and I could feel my muscles tensing.

I was afraid, that was obvious. And I could feel a full-blown panic attack about to hit me so I did the only thing I could think of; Sit down and breath calmly. I quickly crossed my legs facing the source of the noise, placed my hands palm up on my knees and straightened my back as much as my pinched muscles would allow.

I breathed calmly, pulling air into my lungs until they protested, slowly releasing until I couldn't anymore, then repeated the process a few more times. A quote came to mind as I sat and calmed myself down.

"Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it." I said to myself, already feeling my muscles release.

That was a week ago, and nothing had happened since. The apartment was silent and still, no matter how many times I touched something to see if it would be moved. I would purposefully practice Yoga randomly in whatever room I was in. I felt ridiculous, realizing it WAS all in my head.

I sighed heavy, getting out of bed to start my morning. I was planning on hanging out with my friends for the day. We were going to play laser tag, then going to see a movie. I made a quick breakfast of eggs and hash browns, then jumped in the shower. I shampooed my hair, then applied conditioner and used it as a leave-in.

I shut the water off, grabbed a towel and dried off as I walked to my room. I decided to wear something I'd be comfortable running around in, but was also cute. I put on a pair of green cargo pants, my black long sleeve shirt, and comfortable combat boots. They weren't heavy and clunky, and had amazingly soft souls. I checked myself in the mirror, and loved that I got a Kim Possible vibe.

"If only I had Red hair." I said to myself with a slight laugh as I dug through the piles of jackets on the floor of my closet. As I dug deeper I realized my leather jacket was missing. I must have dropped it in my hurry running out of the forest a week ago. It put a damper on my mood, knowing that I hadn't realized it was missing until now.

Instead I grabbed my faux leather jack with the cloth hood. I grabbed my keys off the counter and locked the front door on my way to my car. As soon as I sat in my car, I put the key in the ignition. It wouldn't turn, so I had jam the key with my palm a few times until it turned over.

We ended up playing 3 rounds of laser tag. I won 1, then tied a game with one of my friends. After, we decided to eat Pho before we headed to watch the movie. We're all horror movie fanatics, and I wondered if the genre was such a good idea given the fact that I had just gotten over a paranoia episode.

My friends asked me if I was O.K, and I debated telling them what had happened while I was in the forest, but decided not to freak them out even more before the movie. I assured them I was fine and we found our seats.

The movie was about some girl who was being haunted by an entity who was trying to take her first-born son, after some woman in her family had made a pact with the devil. Generic horror script in my opinion. I was happy to say that I was royally freaked the fuck out. After the movie, I hugged all my friends goodbye, and promised to hang out with them sooner rather than later.

I pulled up to my apartment around 30 minutes later. It was late in the afternoon by the time I walked through the front door, and I was so tired I didn't see the item on the floor in front of me. My foot connected with the object, sending it skittering across the floor to knock against the corner of the kitchen counter across the way.

Confused, I placed my purse and keys on the couch as I walked into the kitchen to turn the light on. The lights came flooding on, momentarily blinding me as I rounded the corner. When my eye sight cleared, I noticed what I had kicked. It was a skull, about the same size as the ones I had in my cabinet. I was suddenly angry. How dare someone come into my home and touch my collection, let alone leave it in front of my own doorway.

I picked it up, feeling the smooth surface and realized it wasn't one from my cabinet. But that left the question as to who would leave me a decorative skull outside my door. I turned it slightly, noticing It had slightly cracked at the apex from where it had connected with the counter. I turned it more to see if I had damaged it anymore, when my eyes focused on the jaws.

Whoever had made the skull did a very good job. I ran my fingers over the teeth, when suddenly one came loose. My heart dropped to the floor as I stared at the piece of bone. I became light headed, vision becoming blurry. I swayed backward and tried to catch myself on the counter, only resulting in swiping some glass off the surface. I registered my back hitting the floor, then the darkness overtook me.

It was a real human skull.

* * *

 **Thank you very much to Crystalga, Tenfangirl, Coolprix, .73 and whoever is anonymously reviewing. If anyone has any feedback lemme know. I love to know how I can improve on anything I'm doing. If you have any ideas about what you'd like to see in this fanfiction let me know that as well. I'd love to incorporate new ideas. The inspiration songs aren't exactly a song to go along with the story, but more along the lines of whatever I was listening to on Youtube that made me wanna write.  
**

 **Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

Questions

Inspiration: "Guys my age" by: Hey Violet

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Why do these things keep happening to me? What have I done to make the universe hate me so much? I've been a good person, paid my taxes. I've even donated to charities whenever I get the chance, although it's never a whole lot. I occasionally buy the person behind me in lines their order, I try to be a good person, be aware of Karma. I even radiate positive juju vibes! And yet, weird ass situations seemed to be gravitating toward me as of late. I sighed deeply, feeling the ache in my back from colliding with the floor. Distinctly I could tell there was a piece of glass pressing into my shoulder blade. How did that get there? Oh, right. I had swiped a glass cup off the counter as I passed out.

I turned my head slowly to gaze at the skull still clutched in my right hand. Why? Why can't I be a normal person? Someone who doesn't get secret admirers who feel the need to leave real human skulls outside her apartment door. Or break into her apartment after scaring the shit out of her and chasing her out of a forest? I've had weird things happen to me concerning men before. One tried to move in with me after only a week of sleeping together, then blew up on me about the fact that I was "two-faced". One guy stalked me for about a month, sending me flowers to my work and showing up even though he didn't have an appointment with my boss. Thankfully he never knew where I lived (regardless of how hard he tried to find out).

I even had one guy, who I told expressly that I wasn't interested in a relationship, take me out on dates and buy me $100 dinners for weeks at a time when he wasn't working on his oil boat, regardless if we had sex after he took me home or not. And he did it for 6 months until he moved states without a word. I've had some pretty weird stuff happen to me. But this…this was on another level all together. I turned my hand so the face of the skull was looking directly at me.

"A real human skull... why? Why me?" I whispered to it, stroking my thumb over the gap where the tooth had fallen out. Where did it come from, and who was this mystery man behind all of this? Was it even a man? When I was in the forest, I thought it was a predator; maybe a bear or cougar. I'd spent enough years walking and hiking around the forest to know that when all the animals around you become silent, something is in kill mode, and it's usually large. But I hadn't actually seen anything in the forest, only heard it. And whatever it was didn't sound like any man or animal I'd ever encountered.

Even a week ago when I thought it had followed me to my apartment. Growling, purring and touching things. This skull is proof that I wasn't imagining things. These things were really happening to me. But why? That's the big question. I rolled my head back up to stare at the ceiling. The light was still on from when I had come home. I didn't know how long I'd been passed out for on the floor, but the ache in my back told me it was at least a few hours. It must have been going on midnight, so I figured I would get up, clean up the glass sitting under me and head to bed at the least.

I sighed deeply again, bringing a quote to the front of my mind as I started to sit up off the floor.

"I am a patient human being. I know that everything in my life comes to me and occurs at the perfect time. I do not force anything to hurry up in my life, for it is all unfolding at the perfect time and just as beautifully as the spring blossom. In waiting there is always something for me to learn. I am patient because I am at peace with the way my life is progressing."

I couldn't remember who the quote was by, but It was one that I recited often; it became my mantra. I needed a large amount of patience in my life recently. I stroked the brow bone of the skull in my hand as I prepared to stand up, one foot planted, and the other still beneath my butt. The combined momentum of me pushing myself to a stand, and the fact that as soon as I lifted my head I came face to face with a silver object, had me flying straight back into the cabinets again. I covered my mouth quickly screaming into my hands, knuckles white from clamping down so hard, as I remembered my down stairs neighbor. She was such a bitch, that if I was dying she would rather I suffer in silence than have to listen to me. And she wasn't afraid to let me know.

My brain finally began to register the object in front of me. It was a mask; silver, with black angled holes where the eyes would be. It had sharp angles at the bottom jaw, jutting out as if it were a snout and the crest came to 2 points as if it had ears. There were black dreads jutting straight out from the back of its head, with beautifully ornate silver and gold beads clipped over all of them. Most looked old and worn, but some looked newer.

Its body was covered in scales, and it had a light sandy color to its skin, with muddled splotches of mossy green all over. It was wearing armor, but it wasn't metal. It looked to be made of some type of leather, and very simple. The breast plate covered its entire neck and heart, but not its shoulders, and was held up by thin criss-cross straps across its sternum. It had leather Roman looking sandals, but with closed toes, a leather skirt that only covered its hips, and a very large… codpiece. It was definitely a male.

He was crouched in front of me, and I watch as he flexed his hand and shifted forward, noticing my staring. Immediately my hand shot to the closest object near me, and I held it out defensively. The skull wouldn't do much, but if I chucked it, it could at least distract him long enough to let me scramble over the breakfast buffet to the fire escape outside my bedroom window.

"No! You stay right there and don't come any closer!" I yelled, my voice cracking with fear. He tilted his head, dreads slowly swinging behind him, then began looking around the floor. I started to inch toward my escape route, skull still outstretched between us when he suddenly whipped back toward me and snatched the skull out of my hand, forcing me to squeal in protest.

He reached over his shoulder for something that I couldn't see, then stayed crouched there fiddling with the skull as I pressed myself to the corner of the kitchen. I tried to calm my breathing after a few minutes when I realized he wasn't trying to murder me. My heart felt like it was racing a mile per minute, and I could register the glass still pressed under my butt from when I'd first fallen that night. I reached under me and pulled the piece of glass away and inspected it for a moment. It had a piece of my black shirt stuck to it, meaning I most likely cut myself when I fell and had yet to register the sting.

I threw the glass away in surprise as the skull was thrust back into my face. I looked up into the things mask and it tilted its head expectantly. Slowly I reached my hands out, palms facing up and the skull was placed rather forcibly into them. He sat back on his heals and continued to stare at me, so I inspected the skull. The tooth was fixed somehow, and looked as if I 'd never knocked it out. I ran my thumb over it, this time more gently in fear of breaking it again. When it stayed put I rotated the skull to see that the crack at the top was no longer visible. It was amazing that he could fix it back to pristine condition. As I stroked the top of the skull, I heard the deep gurgled purr again.

I looked up at him, wondering why petting a skull would make someone so happy. He was still crouched, but seemed to be sitting taller, with his chest puffed out slightly. I stroked the skull again, and he seemed to lean more toward me the slower my hand moved.

"Thank you." I said, breaking the silence between us, before things could get any weirder. "For giving me the skull. And for fixing it."

He inclined his head toward me, then replayed my sentence back as a reply. It was a little unnerving to hear my own voice speak to me, but I assumed it was the only way he could communicate back. If he was some type of lizard like he looked, I doubted he spoke English fluently. I was a little freaked out knowing that the skull was a real human skull, but he obviously had given it to me for a reason. I decided to put it with my collection for now, then possibly move it somewhere out of sight after he left me alone. Possibly even get rid of it if I was lucky.

I slowly stood up, still eyeing the skull and went to move around the large alien in my kitchen when suddenly he gave a quick roar. The sheer volume of the sound sent me flying backward as I scaled the counter, foot held out between the both of our bodies. I quickly grabbed a cup and hurled it in his direction and screamed as he caught it in his hand, shattering it in the process.

"Holy fuck man! Are you always this high strung!?" I yelled, pushing myself farther into the wall. He tilted his head in my direction, first still balled up by his mask. "Yes you! Who shoved a stick up your ass? I was just tryna put the skull away." Immediately he growled at me, confirming my idea that he understood what I was saying, and let off a few curt clicks and jerky growls. He stood up and moved out of the kitchen entrance, then stared me down as I climbed off the counter to head to the cabinet with my skulls in it.

As I passed by him, I could fully gauge his height. His head grazed the ceiling of my apartment, so I was guessing he stood at almost 8 foot tall, if not taller. His head followed me as I walked toward my cabinet chittering lowly to himself or to me. I wasn't entirely sure. I slid my hand between the wall and the cabinet for the key to unlock the door. Surprisingly it was a genius place to hide a key, no one ever looked right in plain sight. I opened the glass door and prepared to put the skull off to one side where it wasn't as noticeable, when a large hand reached from my peripheral and pushed the center skull on the middle shelf to the side. Immediately I slapped at the appendage mid push, both from fear that he could move so silently, and because he had touched my things without asking. I knew I hadn't hurt him, his arms were as thick as my thighs and probably pure muscle, but he relented anyway opting instead to point at the spot while making another clicking noise.

"Fine, I'll put it in the center. But next time, ask before you just go touching my shit." I said over my shoulder, rearranging the cabinet so the human skull could sit in the center. I stepped back and closed the door, locking it again and eyed the skull warily. It didn't look like a human skull when it was sitting next to the crystal ones, and it did give the cabinet a bit of character, but it still disturbed me a bit knowing it had obviously come from _someone_. The large alien started purring again. It was a deep gurgling sound that vibrated through my entire body from how close he was standing behind me, and my mind immediately compared it to sitting on a washing machine.

My entire face heated up as I quickly reached behind the cabinet to return the key and side stepped from between the two. I sped walked my way back into the kitchen to grab a cup of water, and noticed the time on the stove. It was already a few minutes passed 2 am. "Well big guy, since I don't have work tomorrow I guess I could try and learn a little bit about you." I said walking into the living room and plopping myself down onto one of the floor pillows, then patted the space in front of me. He stood regarding me for a moment, chattering to himself before finally coming and sitting in front of me on the sheep skin rug. He was still much larger than me sitting down, and he sat close enough that he could read out and grab me without having to lean forward. I wondered if it was a purposeful tactic, of if he just had no personal space.

"First things first then." I said, after he'd gotten himself comfortable. Or as comfortable as I imagined he could be. He sat rigidly across from me, as if ready to jump up and bolt at any minute. "Let's get names out of the way. My name is Grace Walker." I placed my hand on my chest, then gestured toward the alien in front of me. "What's your name? Do you have one?" He tilted his head, beads clacking together behind his head, then thrust his first at his chest making me flinch at the aggressive display.

"Kwei-Bhu'ja." He practically barked, puffing his chest out. I was a little surprised at the actual words coming out of his mouth, half expecting him to still be clicking at me.

"Kwey buja." I replied, about to ask my next question when he practically threw himself at me, growling low. "Kwei-Bhu'ja." He said slowly, hovering aggressively above me. I hesitated a moment, then warily repeated the name again, accentuating the punctuation between the U and J. When I finally said it correctly he backed away from me, to settle into his place as if he'd never lunged at me. I was sweating now, and hesitated to ask more question in fear of insulting him.

"well, um…I know you understand English, but can you speak it as well?" He shook his head at me. This was going to be a fun game of 20 questions then, when the only question I really wanted to know was why he was here. Why he was so interested in me. We sat for a good portion of the night with me asking as many yes or no questions as I could think of. I had learned that he was a hunter, looking for good sport and trophies, and he is from a planet much farther than Pluto, farther even than the galaxy we're in. He also had a ship in the forest where I first heard him purring at me. He was here with 2 other hunters, one named Thwei-Sain'ja, and the other named Kuj'hade. The 2 had stayed on the ship, simply making a pit-stop on Earth. They aren't brothers but are good friends from childhood from what I understood, and I even found out that the skull I had been given was from _very_ recently, and he had considered it a gift. Why, I still wasn't able to figure out though, and I assumed I just wasn't asking the right questions. Either that, or he just had no way of putting it into a simple yes or no answer.

My eyelids began to droop, making me aware of just how early into the morning it was. I needed to shower and take the clothes from yesterday off before I began to stink. I stood slowly, joints popping in protest while Kwei-Bhu'ja tilted his head at me. I was only slightly taller than him, even while he was sitting. As I stretched I noticed him lean toward me slightly and make a quick huffing sound.

The bastard was sniffing me! I stepped back immediately and crossed my arms. "Well you don't have to tell me twice you jerk. I'm going to go wash off, so please don't touch anything in my apartment, and when I come back, I would appreciate it if you _didn't_ go invading my space every ten seconds." I turned quickly, headed toward the bedroom to grab a towel and listened to him make a rapid clicking noise, huffing every few seconds. At least I knew he could laugh, although at my expense.

Before I could even turn the knobs for the shower, there was a quick knock at my front door. I straightened up, having not taken my clothes off yet, and checked my phone on the bathroom counter. It was only 6:30 am. Who the hell would be knocking on my door at this hour? There was another knock, this one heavier, so I turned out of the bathroom and checked the peephole. There was a man outside the door wearing a black suit and sunglasses. I was immediately on high alert. Normal people don't come knocking on your door this early, looking that suspicious _right_ after someone just spent a good few hours semi-talking to an extraterrestrial.

I looked around my living room, noticing that Kwei-Bhu'ja was nowhere to be seen. Nerves calmed slightly, I took a deep breath and let it out as I unlocked the padlock before he could knock again. I swung the door open wide, trying not to seem uncomfortable.

"Hi, before you start I'm really not looking to buy anything. I wish I could, but I don't have the money to right now." I said leaning against the doorway.

He seemed taken aback for a moment before he placed his fingers on the rim of his sunglasses to pull them off. "I'm not here selling anything miss. I'm simply here about a noise complaint we've been getting for the past few days. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

I took in another deep breath trying to calm my nerves and let out a sigh. I stepped toward the man as if I was about to tell him a secret and he shifted uncomfortably, but I could tell he was trying to keep his composure. He was young, possibly mid 20's and was wearing a blue tie. A power color. He definitely didn't feel very powerful in his position, or maybe in his line of work. He sure as hell didn't _look_ like he was investigating a noise complaint.

"Alright, I don't know what she told you, but my downstairs neighbor is a cranky old bitch." I said lowly. "I try to be nice to everyone, believe you me I really do. But she is just _impossible_ to please. I could use my blender and she'd have a fit for crying out loud. She's always banging her broom against her ceiling and yelling through the floor if I come home too late in the night. She's crazy. She's CLEARLY crazy." When I finished, I leaned myself back against the door frame, hoping my display had convinced him at least a little that I had nothing to hide, but i could still feel my palms sweating and my heart beat in my throat.

I watched as he pulled a thick manila folder that he held at his side up to his face. He flipped through a few pages, shifting his eyes up to look at me a few times before the flipped it closed quickly and replaced his sunglasses.

He stepped back slightly before looking at me again. "Hmm. Of course Miss Walker. Well, if you notice anything strange in the future, go ahead and give us a call." And with that he turned and walked away. I waited until he was down the first flight of stairs before throwing the door shut and locking the padlock once again, placing my back against the door. He hadn't handed me a business card at all and he knew my last name. Probably even knew my first name and everything about me by the looks of the folder he was holding. I stepped away from the door and began pacing back and forth in the living room.

He was going to be back. There's no way you have a random conversation with someone like that and not have an ulterior motive behind it. They probably knew that Kwei-Bhu'ja was here on the planet, if not having been in my apartment. I would need to leave states, probably the country if I could get out in time. They'd never let me keep this kind of information to myself. I should have never gone along with the damn alien, regardless if he wasn't trying to kill me or not. I should have taken my chances and just high tailed it out of my apartment. Gone to the police or something at least.

The skulls, all of them. They'd be evidence. They'd ruin my whole collection to get to one simple human skull.

What if they though I killed the person. My body went cold as I turned and looked at the case, the skull glaring me down with its empty sockets. I'd have to get rid of it somehow, but my fingerprints were all over the skull already. I was doomed to rot in a prison cell for the rest of my life if I was lucky. There was a sudden pressure on my neck and I spun around behind me. The momentum made me spin farther than I had intended and I became unbalanced on my feet reaching out to somehow stop my fall, and my hand connected with something warm and hard. I tried focusing my blurry vision, but all I could see were lights reflecting off the surfaces in front of me, like looking through a window after a rainstorm.

I dropped to my knees, and then to my side as I could see the darkness creep in through the corners of my eyes. I was either in shock, or I'm pretty sure someone drugged me. I finally rolled onto my back as I heard the tell tale sound of clicking, the sound bouncing around my head before my vision finally failed me.

"God damn you kwei buja."

* * *

 **Kwei-bhu'ja – Sly-Ghost**

 **Thwei-sain'ja- Blood-Warrior**

 **Kuj'hade- Destroyer**

 **Alright guys, here's a super long one for you for the holidays. Hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving if you celebrate it and have a good holiday season for December. I won't be able to post a whole lot in December, with school finals coming up, and i'll be working more once the quarter is out. I will try to at least write a few paragraphs every chance that i get. This story will also hopefully get much better once all the introductions have been made and we can actually start delving into the true personality of Grace and her new companion.**

 **I'm also trying to decide what direction i want the story to move into as a whole, or if i want it to be just a drabble-ish story to just follow the adventures they have. But we shall see. As always, if you have any ideas about what you think should happen let me know please. Also, thank you to Tenfangirl, miu-sakurai-73 and whoever keeps anonymously reviewing. The continued supports is what drives me! That and my roommate for her wonderful future ideas. :)**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

Stranded

Inspiration: "we are the dream" by: Sound Remedy (thefatrat remix)

* * *

I swear to whatever deity above will listen, that If I wake up from unconsciousness one more time…I'm going to break shit.

I had the worst headache I'd ever felt before. It felt like my head was going to burst from some unknown pressure, and I was woozy like I'd gone on an all-night bender and decided to get downright sloshed. My neck had a kink in it from laying on my stomach for however long I was passed out for. The last thing I remembered from my apartment was having the strangest talk with a man in a suit about some noise complaint. I doubted they'd actually gotten any type of complaint, he was probably from some big wig corporation snooping around about the big fucking alien that decided to make itself my personal Pepe Le Pew. Those secret government types knew everything so much as E.T. related, and now because of Kwei-Bhu'ja I was going to have even less time to figure out how to get out of deep shit than I needed.

It completely blows my mind as to why he would think that stabbing me in the neck with knock out drugs was a good idea. Yes, he's an alien and is going to have different ways of handling bad situations, but last I checked putting someone into a drug induced sleep is not one of them. I wish I'd never even gone to the forest that day. Maybe then I wouldn't be in this mess right now. _Remember Grace. Everything happens for a reason. Any situation could be a blessing in disguise._

I started to wiggle my fingers and toes to get the blood pumping again. My arms were still slightly numb, and it made me wonder if I had laid on them and forced them to sleep, or if it was a side effect of using whatever alien technology he possessed on me. I spread my fingers, prepared to push up off my floor when my fingertips dug into something much softer than my hardwood floors. I scrunched my eyebrows and dug my left hand farther into the substance as I rolled onto my right side. I turned my head toward my hand and squinting my eyes, I stared at my open palm waiting for my eyesight to adjust, prepared for something strangely disturbing to be sitting there.

Dirt. I held a handful of dirt mixed with leaves from a tree.

Why was I outside? In a pile of dirt nonetheless? I slowly sat upright, legs tucked under me as I stared at my open palm, then began to take in the fact that I wasn't just sitting in a pile of dirt outside. The whole ground was covered in dirt, and I was surrounded by trees on all sides. Very large, dense trees at that. I swiveled my head slowly from left to right taking in my surroundings. Kwei-Bhu'ja must have carried me far from my apartment after he drugged me, because there were no forests within 45 minutes from my apartment. Nothing with trees like this. In fact; I'd been to a lot of forests in Washington State, and none of them compared to what I was sitting in the middle of.

The trees were thick, and they all looked about as thick as a bridge. They were tall enough that I couldn't see the sky at all, with enormous trunks so I could barely see around one to the next tree behind it. All around me roots were jutting out of the ground, connecting one tree to the other. And I was sweating from the humidity. It was far hotter than I remember it being in spring. My hair was slightly damp, and the curls were starting to moisten and press against my forehead. It must have been at least 90 degrees or higher. It reminded me of the rainforests you see on Discovery Channel, and I was immediately enraged.

 _This bastard goes and drugs me, then drops me off in another country for shits and giggles!? When I find this jackass, I'm gunna give him a swift kick in the ass._ I stood slowly, body protesting as the feeling of pins and needles fluctuated along my limbs. I turned slowly, rubbing life back into my wrists as I contemplated which direction to walk. There was a light rustle in a bush behind me, and the moment I turned the noise stopped. I stared for a moment before forcing my legs in the opposite direction of the noise. First rule of thumb: if you don't know where you are or anything about the forest you're in, don't walk toward random noises. Hopefully this wouldn't be added to the list of regular mantras I was currently constructing.

* * *

I wandered aimlessly for what felt like hours. The sun was still beating down on my back, which was strange because I hadn't switched directions since the moment I started walking. I was becoming dehydrated as it felt like the temperatures were rising, and I was now steadily pouring sweat from my body. I licked my dry lips, running my tongue over the small crack that had formed on my bottom lip a few moments previous. I concentrated on the sting I felt, staring blankly ahead. The scenery was as ever changing as the sun and heat. It felt like I had walked past the same tree, followed by the same bush a hundred times. Occasionally the foliage would be broken up by a random plant looking similar to a Venus fly trap, only much larger.

When I first saw the plant, I was strangely interested. But the moment I had stepped up to it, it had acted as if drooling, leaning forward ever so slowly and I imagined it wanted to clamp down on me to eat me for supper. Although that would imply that this day would ever end. I had quickly pried myself away from the plant and briskly walked away. I absent-mindedly scratched at the point in my neck where I had been injected. It was right on the juncture between my neck and my shoulder, and it felt like it was getting infected. The skin on the area was raised, and I could feel something underneath the skin; most likely fluid buildup from a bad reaction to whatever the hell Kwei-Bhu'ja had given me. It was just another reminder as to why this day was taking the trophy for official worst day this year.

I stepped around another tree root blocking my path, and walked out into a clearing. It took me a moment to register exactly what I was seeing, but the moment the fog lifted from my brain I was sprinting forward toward the large watering hole in front of me. I dropped to the ground in front of the pool and thrust my hands under the surface. Cupping my hands, I brought the liquid up to my mouth, but stopped short as a thought hit me. If the water wasn't clean it could make me sick, and the last thing I needed was to be walking around in a forest I wasn't familiar with, squatting every 5 seconds.

I redirected and instead poured the water over my head. I began washing off the dirt and sweat that had built up on my body, throat aching for the water I could have drank. It felt amazing to be clean after walking for so long, and my feet were starting to protest. I was sure I had a blister on one foot, and I debated whether I should remove my shoes and socks in fear that I wouldn't be able to get them back on. The desire to rub my feet won out, and I sat back on my butt as I pulled both shoes off, and peeled the soaked socks from my toes. I spread them over the rock in front of me in the direct sunlight to dry quicker, and flared out the laces of my shoes to get more airflow.

I continued washing my body off as I took in the area around me. The clearing was fairly large, about the size of a football field, with the pool of water in the center. I'd seen a lot of formations in my years of hiking, and the way the pool was perfectly situated at the center of a forest kept pulling at my gut. Almost as if it was planned, strategically placed here to be useful. But that was impossible. Who would have the ability to just up and create a water formation in the middle of nowhere. It could have possibly be a crater that was filling up with rain water. I looked up into the sky, swiveling my head slowly. There were no clouds as far as I could see, and I had no idea how the weather worked here. Wherever here was of course.

I leaned forward again to cup more water into my hands, when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. My elbows locked in place as I went stiff as a board. My gut has never lied to me before, and I started mentally kicking myself. I should have just gotten out of there the moment I felt uneasy. I kept my gaze down, but listened to my surroundings. I could hear footsteps, four of them, and there was a gurgling growl sound. My head whipped up prepared to give Kwei-Bhu'ja a piece of my mind for dropping me in this forest, when my eyes made contact with a pair of sunken sockets, and a set of razor sharp teeth.

My face fell and I could feel the blood draining from my brain as the animal watched me from across the clearing. It had 4 sets of horns framing its face, and even more running down its back. Its skin was a dark green color, and its face reminded me of something from Hellraiser. I couldn't make out a lot of features from so far away, but the teeth on the animal were huge, and it didn't look like anything I'd even heard of walking the earth, and we had some gruesome animals.

I was frozen in place, hoping that if I stayed still enough it wouldn't feel the need to bum rush me. I was in track in high school, but from as much of the build I could see, this animal was likely to catch me in a few minutes. It lifted its head, and I could hear it take in a few purposeful deep breaths. When it lowered its head again, I could hear a deep growl pointed in my direction. My eyes widened to the size of saucers as it began to stalk forward, and I could tell it was taking its time. Either from knowing I would be weak prey, or simply wanting to toy with me I didn't really wanna find out.

I quickly glanced to my boots, wondering if it would be worth it to grab them before running off, when the beast started to charge at me as if reading my mind. Immediately my brain switched into fight or flight mode, and I was taking off to my right like a bullet. The rocks in the clearing bit into my feet, and the heat from the ground burned with each step, but I pushed forward knowing I'd have more traction once I reached the trees again. Unfortunately, that would also mean the animal chasing me would as well.

I broke through the tree-line, and pushed myself faster as I heard the animal gaining ground behind me. My breaths were becoming more labored the harder I pushed myself, and I could feel bile pushing up from my stomach. My limbs protested from over use and I was still working off a dehydrated system. I could feel the animal getting closer, and the sound of his huffing breath grew louder, to the point where I felt like I could feel the heat of it on my back. I didn't dare glance behind me, in fear that it would be long enough to miss step and I would go crashing to the ground to present myself on a silver platter.

I was so concentrated on getting away from the beast behind me, that I almost didn't catch the second one that jumped from behind a tree. I dipped low and narrowly escaped the chomping jaws of the newcomer as I redirected to the right, pushing myself harder, to run faster, to be lighter on my feet. My life depended on it, and I was fully planning on surviving the rest of this god forsaken day, so that I could give Kwei-Bhu'ja a piece of my mind and demand he take me back home.

I wasn't going to be able to outrun these damn animals for much longer, and it astounded me that I was able to live for as long as I had. I felt ready to collapse any minute, and I needed to do some serious thinking on my feet, before I became scooby snacks. Trees and branches whizzed past my face, scratching my arms as I pushed them out of my way. The path I was running along was slowing me down, and one of the beasts ran up on my right forcing me to redirect to the left. I duck under a vine hanging in my way, then leaped over a fallen stump, forcing my legs to move faster.

I looked beside me and noticed that the hounds were no long chasing me; mostly herding me. They began nipping at my heels occasionally when I slowed down, but they stayed close enough to my sides that I could tell they weren't trying to eat me. But if they weren't trying to eat me, what the hell was going on? There was a shrill whistle up ahead, and suddenly the hound things took off ahead of me, zig-zagging around each other as if they were excited. I slowed to a jog as they ran out of site, and a few moments later I broke through a clearing into what looked to be some sort of camp.

The camp was grotesque looking, with piles of bones and guts lying around, and assorted weapons strewn about in an uncaring manner. There was a large bonfire in the center of the camp that was already lit, and the hounds were now laying in front of it with what looked like a giant bone. I tried not to think about what kind of animal the bone came from as the two beasts growled and yipped at each other over the thing. My further inspection of the camp was blocked by a large 6 pack. My eyes roamed up the broad expanse of skin past his chest, then on to the gold mask he wore.

There were bone tusks sticking out of the bottom jaw of the alien in front of me, and his dreads were wrapped in red twine, with gold jewelry accentuating it, and some were situated to fan out and frame the top of his head like a crown. He wore a full leather breast plate, gauntlets, and the same cod piece and roman sandals as Kwei-Bhu'ja. He also wore small teeth and trinkets of bone on a string around his waist. It reminded me of jewelry that women wore to attract attention to specific parts of their bodies. His skin was deep black, with small speckles of white along his arms and stomach, making me think of the stars in the night sky. Interesting.

"You are one sneaky ooman."

The sudden use of English shocked me, and my eyes snapped up to the mask the alien wore. My mouth hung open, and I wasn't able to form any coherent words, so I opted to make a small squeaking noise as I stared at him.

"You're also a very stupid one I see." He turned and walked away, and I stomped my foot in anger.

"Hey, I'm not stupid! I passed high school with good grades thank you. I just wasn't expecting for you to speak English. Yesterday all I heard was a bunch of clicking and growling." I crossed my arms and turned my nose up to the alien, when I noticed he had gone and sat down on one of the rocks next to the hounds. He nudged one roughly away when it leaned itself onto his foot to pull a piece of meat away from the second hound. They snarled and yipped at each other again before settling down, while the alien tapped around on his gauntlet.

"Who the hell are you anyway? Where's Kwei-Bhu'ja, and what state am I in? I'm not in Washington anymore obviously."

There was a quick chittering behind me, and when I turned there was another alien standing there. He was still much Larger than me, but from where his chest sat in my line of sight I could tell he was shorter than the black one. This one was dark green in color, and he had Yellow splotches of color across his body. His mask was silver, and the crest of his mask was flat and fanned out upward. He wore a leather shoulder piece on each shoulder, a leather piece that covered his heart, and a thick waist belt that came to a point at his sternum. He also had the same cod piece as the other alien, but his shoes were full on leather boots. His dreads were black, but looked as if the end of them had been dipped in the same color green as his skin. It gave the dreads a unique ombre effect.

"That would be Kuj'hade. A sain'ja of few words, but he is known to speak his mind. I am Thwei-Sain'ja, and you must be the ooman my companion brought from that backwater planet. You're much smaller than I thought you would be. I always imagined oomans would be larger. Why else would you be such desirable prey?"

Thwei-Sain'ja leaned toward me and began tilting his head to eye me. I could see my reflection in his mask the closer he leaned, and I took a step back as the word prey sounded in my head. I had forgotten Kwei-Bhu'ja confirming that he was on Earth to hunt humans, and the skull he had given me the day before.

"What backwater planet? And why was I in the middle of the jungle and not here?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Kwei-Bhu'ja brought you here from your N'-ithya, to our reserve planet. We've come to prepare for our next hunt, and to clear out anything the fallen sain'ja left behind. There were very few animals left on this planet. You had a small chance of running into anything. We wanted to know what you are capable of." He stated matter of fact-ly, before crossing his arms as well.

"So, let me make sure I comprehend what you're saying. You, and your two best friends, decided to come to my planet and hunt for _whatever_ it is you hunt for. And then while you were there, you just so _happened_ to take interest in me and bring me here, to a fucking game reserve? On a different planet!?"

By this point I was seething, trying to control my emotions, and wondering where I could get my hands on something breakable.

"Kwei-Bhu'ja found great interest in you, not us. Trust me little ooman, you are no kainde amedha."

"Well if you weren't trying to hunt me, then why sick your dogs on me? Why not just come and get me?" I said, throwing my arms toward the animals currently sleeping. Thwei-Sain'ja tilted his head again and made a small trilling noise before turning to walk away.

"It is much easier for you to come to us, than for us to go to you. Next time don't wander so far, and you wont have to run as much." With that he walked into the forest, and I was left standing to stare around the camp area again. Kuj'hade was still tapping against his wrist, and from the way he held himself, he didn't seem like one who enjoyed being disturbed. There was a log on the opposite side of the fire, so I began walking to go sit down. As I passed between the hounds and Kuj'hade, one of the dogs nipped at my foot when I stepped too close to it, causing me to flinch away. Immediately Kuj'hade pushed me away, and I was forced to run unbalanced toward the log to avoid falling onto the hounds, instead falling on my hands and knees a few feet away.

I stood up and began wiping my hands on my pants as I heard him snort at me, then faced him with one hand on my hip. "Thank you _so_ much for doing that. I just really love it when I get pushed around, in fact i wished for it the moment i woke up in this damn forest."

He looked up at me then very seriously replied, "You are welcome. But your approval is unnecessary. It will occur regardless." He looked back down at his gauntlet and continued with whatever he was working on. My hand dropped from my hip with a deadpan look to my face, and I moved to go sit down. Of course he wouldn't recognize sarcasm.

* * *

I stared into the fire for a good while, just thinking about what the hell I was going to do. I was no longer home, no longer on earth and no longer in Washington. I wanted to give Kwei-Bhu'ja a piece of my mind and tell him to take me home, but he had yet to show up. I had worked up the courage to ask Kuj'hade where he was, and he told me he was out taking care of the leftover game. I was glad the worst thing I had run into were his dogs while I was out there. From the scars on the alien's bodies, I was sure they weren't just talking about lions, tigers and bears. Although I wouldn't wanna get caught in a fight with any of those either. At least the hounds weren't really trying to eat me.

I began thinking about the events that brought me to my current situation again. It was strange to think that just last night I was asking yes or no questions to a giant alien, after he'd decided to stalk me and give me his version of a present. I still didn't know what he wanted from me, or why exactly he'd felt the need to take me from my planet. Suddenly a thought popped into my head.

"Hey Kuj'hade?" He didn't look away from his arm, but had hesitated in his tapping for a moment signaling that he was listening. "Why can I suddenly understand you guys? Yesterday all I could hear were clicks and growls from Kwei-Bhu'ja. He didn't show any ability to speak English."

"That is because your n'yaka-de placed a chip inside your neck so that we may speak freely. It is too bothersome to learn to speak the ooman language for the sole purpose of communicating with you. And I do not believe you are capable of mastering the Yautja language quickly, or easily."

I brushed off his to-the-point attitude and thanked my lucky stars. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but it really will be more useful to be able to understand languages immediately, instead of having to learn them. I rubbed the raised bump on my neck now that I knew what it was. There were so many things I wanted to get pissed about from this day, but I just didn't have the energy in me anymore. I licked my lips, noticing they had cracked even more than they previously were, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a bowl of water was placed next to me.

I picked it up and took large gulps, before setting the empty bowl back next to me. Thwei-Sain'ja had returned, and refilled the bowl of water before taking a seat next to me. I picked the bowl up, and held it as I casually sipped from it. I crossed my feet and stared into the fire, as I listened to both aliens tapping away at their wrist gauntlets. They were worse than teenagers on their phones. I turned toward Thwei-Sain'ja and studied the side of his mask for a moment.

"Why is it that some of the words you say aren't translated after you speak them?" He turned to me and thought for a moment before speaking.

"Some words do not have an ooman translation. The chip can only convert words that have ooman meaning."

"oh ok. Well who is n'yaka-de? Kuj'hade said it was mine."

"Kwei-Bhu'ja is n'yaka-de. He is your n'yaka-de. He will watch over you and keep you safe so long as you obey him." I placed the bowl in my lap and turned my full body to face Thwei-Sain'ja as the color drained from my face.

"So, you're saying I'm his slave now!?" He stayed silent and tilted his head before making a chirping noise at me.

"M-di. Not slave." He turned toward Kuj'hade, gesturing between him and the hounds. "Kuj'hade is their n'yaka-de. Kwei-Bhu'ja is your n'yaka-de.

The bowl of water came crashing to the ground as I stood up. My fists were balled so tight that my nails dug into my palms, and I could distinctly register that I was screaming. I was beyond livid, and the moment I saw Kwei-Bhu'ja my fist was going straight into his nose.

"I'm his fucking _PET_!?"

* * *

 **Alright guys, sorry it's so late up and coming! And sorry that this chapter doesn't include Grace's not so little stalker. I just needed to get the introductions between her and the boys out of the way. The conversation bits were not coming out the way that I wanted, so if you think anything can do with some improvements let me know. I'm a nice person, I won't bite I promise!**

 **This one is also pretty long, so hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Tenfangirl: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and hopefully this chapter gives you some insight into what the heck Kwei-Bhu'ja is thinking. I tried to imagine what it would be like to meet an alien, so I wanted her to be the exact opposite of me and not have her heart beat out of her chest the moment an 8 foot tall Yautja materializes in front of her.**

 **Thank you to my guest reviewer, and the anonymous reviewer as well. Lovin the support guys.**

 **Kainde Amedha: Hard meat**

 **Kuj'hade: Destroyer**

 **Kwei-Bhu'ja: Sly-ghost**

 **M-di: No**

 **N'-ithya: Earth**

 **N'yaka-de: Master**

 **Ooman: Human**

 **Sain'ja: Warrior**

 **Thwei-Sain'ja: Blood-warrior**


	6. Chapter 6

Decoy

Inspiration: "I feel it coming" by: The Weekend

* * *

I really needed to learn to control my anger; and my mouth. My chakras were completely out of wack, and I was suffering from a muddy aura. I could feel unhappiness building up inside of me, and if I didn't sit and mediate to clear my mind, my temper was going to get me a lot worse than sitting alone at the bottom of a pit, covered in blood, with last year's prey as my only companions.

I scratched at the tracking bracelet clamped around my ankle. It was big and clunky, and it rubbed angrily against my ankle whenever I stood up to pace the expanse of the pit. I'd been sitting in here for hours after the aliens had left me to my own devices. Kwei-Bhu'ja had cornered me on the edge, and pushed me down into the hole to land on my back. I didn't think anything was broken, but I was gunna be in a shit ton of pain running around with the other prey when they came to "rescue" me.

 _The moment Kwei-Bhu'ja returned to camp I marched right up to him and gave the best right hook I could manage straight to his side. I had caught him off guard, so he gave a quick grunt before looking down on me. He started to chitter in laughter as I shook my hand pathetically to ease the pain. He looked like he was made out of pure rock, and he felt like it too._

" _Why the hell am I your pet you dick wad!?"_

 _He tilted his head quizzically, then began walking around me to throw the dead corpses he carried into the hole on the other end of the camp. "I know you can understand me, and I can understand you now, so don't bother ignoring me."_

 _As he threw the last body down the hole, he turned on me. "You are my pet, because I find you interesting. Is that not how humans find their pets?" He had a point, most humans decided they wanted an animal on impulse, found the cutest one, then dumped it on the first shelter they could find when they realized they couldn't take care of it._

" _Well, yeah I guess. But that doesn't mean_ _ **I**_ _want to be a pet. Why can't you just take me home and come visit me every once in a while? That would be preferable to hanging out with giant aliens who want to hunt my species." I crossed my arms for the millionth time since being around these guys, and leveled my gaze on Kwei-Bhu'ja._

 _He walked purposefully up to me, and stopped just a few feet away from my face, forcing me to crane my neck to maintain eye contact with his mask. "You are_ _ **my**_ _pet. And you will go where I go, sleep where I sleep, eat when I eat, and go home when I say you may. And that…will_ _ **NEVER**_ _happen." We stared each other down for what felt like ages, and my anger began to bubble in the pit of my stomach. The fact that he was implying that he would never take me home, that I would be stuck with this alien and his monster friends, forced to watch him kill and skin his prey for the rest of my life until I was old and dead, made my heart break in two. I would never see my friends again, never see my parents or spend holidays with them. Never go back to my apartment and go to work. I'd never have a normal life again. The thought made me feel sick to my stomach and like I wanted to break every bone in Kwei-Bhu'ja's body all at the same time._

 _Before I could stop myself, I had uncrossed my arms, balled up my fists and began to lash out at him. "If you don't take me home right now, I'm gunna lose my shit! I wanna be with other humans! Not stupid fucking huge ass aliens!" I punched him with every breath I took, and he stood completely still absorbing the impact of every punch. When I was done, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end, and my gaze traveled up from his abdomen where I'd been hitting him, to his silver mask. He stood eerily quiet, then very calmly began to speak._

" _You'd like to be with other humans. Is this correct?" The way he said it made me shiver involuntarily. "Well…yeah. Please." I add, in hopes that I hadn't angered him enough to kill me. The blood drained from my face as he turned quickly around and began digging through a pile of weapons and equipment on a makeshift table a few feet away. He grabbed something from the bottom of the pile, and tinkered with it for a few second, before looking over his shoulder at me._

 _My back stiffened, and I stared at him like a deer in headlights as he turned with the object clutched in his hand. I began wringing my hands together like a reprimanded child who was dreading a spanking, except this was an 8 foot tall hunting warrior, and he was most likely going to break my neck. The closer he got to me, the slower he moved making me instinctively begin to back away from him. We played this game for what felt like hours, when my foot slipped off the ledge of the pit and I began falling backward._

 _Kwei-Bhu'ja caught my right foot mid flail, slapped the object onto my ankle, and then let go of me, forcing me to land hard on my back. The wind was knocked out of me, and I rolled slowly onto my side. When I had righted myself, hand clutched over my chest from the pain, I looked up out of the pit and found all 3 of the aliens staring down at me._

" _You wish to be with other humans, and so you will be. Our new season's prey should be landing as we speak. We have been told that they almost always wander into this camp. For this, you will be bait. When they arrive, get them to help you out of the pit. If they don't, then you'll just stay down there until every last one of them is a trophy on our walls." And with that, Kwei-Bhu'ja turned and walked away. Thwei-Sain'ja stood and stared at me, head tilted for a moment before also walking away. Kuj'hade stayed the longest, and I stared up at him with pleading eyes. "Please don't leave me down here. Please!"_

 _Suddenly he reared back and let out the most blood curling roar I'd ever heard. I ducked down and covered my ears, placing my head between my knees, when suddenly there was a distinct ripping sound and a thick liquid came raining down on me soaking my body, followed by two large thumps on either side of me. When he had quieted down, and I could hear his footsteps retreating, I had looked up to see I was covered in blood, and there was the carcass of some unknown animal on either side of me._

I had cried for hours, screaming, pleading and clawing at the side of the pit. I felt stupid now after replaying the way I had reacted back in my head. It was completely justified, no one wants to be told you've taken them from their home to be some pet, then that you're not going to allow them to go home all in the same sentence. Granted I could have groveled a little more. It would have hurt my pride, but at least I wouldn't be in the situation I was in now.

I resorted to sitting with the head tucked to my knees, and my arms around my legs. My back protested from the prolonged position, but it was better than staring at the now rotting corpses around me. My head snapped up at the distinct sound of voices that grew closer. I knew it wasn't the aliens, the footsteps were too heavy. The boys moved too quietly to be so easily distinguished. I stayed seated, listening harder. I hoped I could tell if they were friendly or not. I WAS on an alien planet, surrounded by unknowns on all sides, and I didn't feel like throwing myself into the middle of a group of murderers, crazy people, or horny men who hadn't seen a woman in years.

It sounded as if there were 5 people, and most of the voices I heard were from men. I stood slowly, willing blood to pump back through my legs, as I strained my ears to listen closer. They were inspecting the far end of the camp, commenting on the piles of organs laying around, and the stench it was creating in the heat weighing down on our backs. There was a cluttering of metal, and one of them probably started digging through the pile of weapons.

My heart began beating faster as I prepared to yell for them to help me. I was raised to be cautious of people I didn't know, and even now, stranded on an unknown planet at the bottom of a hole, it was hard to decide between 3 aliens I already knew, and a group of men I had no idea about. _Damn Stockholm syndrome._ I could hear their voices begin to drift off, and Kwei-Bhu'ja's last words echoed in my head. _"When they arrive, get them to help you out of the pit. If they don't, then you'll just stay down there until every last one of them is a trophy on our walls."_ I didn't know how long that would take, and he didn't make it seem like he was going to feed me between that time. I didn't really wanna sit around here to find out.

"Hey! Hey down here!" I started yelling, hoping they weren't already too far away to hear me. When there was no return calls I began mentally punching myself for waiting so long. Now I was going to have to sit my anxious ass down here until these bodies began growing maggots. I forced the feeling down and I doubled over prepared to vomit, when suddenly a voice rang out above my head.

"It came from over here! Theres someone down in this hole!"

I looked up and almost cried. There was a man, looked to be in his mid 30's staring down at me. "Are you O.K down there?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just kind of in pain. I got thrown down here." I hesitated in referring to Kwei-Bhu'ja as an asshole, in fear that the man would realize I was something to him.

"Alright, hold on. We'll find a way to get you out of there." He stepped away from the edge, and I could hear him yelling to find vines or any kind of rope to pull me out. I paced back and forth anxiously, listening to the movements above me. A few minutes later, a thick vine was thrown down against the side of the hole. I grabbed ahold, and began pulling myself up, thankful for my yoga upper body strength.

The moment my head peaked over the edge, I was grabbed by a pair of strong arms and hoisted the rest of the way. I collapsed onto my back, and took large huffing breaths, when I was touched softly on the shoulder by a woman. "We need to get out of here. Whatever lives here is obviously eating these things, and we don't feel like being on the menu. We need to keep moving." I groaned, but began pushing myself to stand as they headed into the forest.

I was glad that I wasn't just surrounded by men. There were more people in the group than I had initially anticipated. There were 4 men in total, and 2 women. As we walked, they began telling me their names but I didn't bother remembering any of them. They would just be trophies in a cabinet anyway. Or however the aliens stored the skulls.

A shudder went down my spine, and I forced my thoughts away from the deaths of all the humans around me. Instead I imagined what their ship would look like. Would it be stereotypical like in the movies? A stark white inside with flashing buttons, random machines and a giant table in the center of a room for probing humans? No, probably not. They didn't strike me as the type for pristine spaces. Their ship is most likely covered in guts and bones, with weapons thrown about without a care. At least if the campsite was anything to go off.

And their trophies probably went into a super secretive room. Each one, with their own sacred spaces where they mounted their trophies like in museums. With the planet name, type of creature and time of death written on some plaque. And they'd return every day to admire their trophies, and bask in the blood of the innocents. Or some bullshit along those lines.

"Maybe it did something to her mind? She seems pretty out of it. Like she's seen more fucked up shit than we have." The voice drew me out of my daze. I hadn't even realized we'd stopped in a clearing. It was the same one I'd been in a few days previous. Or at least what felt like a few days. One of the other men was trying to talk to me, but immediately I ignored him in favor of finding my socks and boots. The blisters on my feet were still killing me from running on 100 degree rocks.

I spotted them, laying in the same spot I had left them, and I gave a short yelp of glee as I ran over and began putting them on. One of the women walked over to me, watching me lace up my boots before speaking.

"So I'm guessing that thing caught you while you were here huh? You must have been the first one to land then." She had large doe eyes, the color of brown, and they gave off a real motherly vibe. It reminded me that Kwei-Bhu'ja was never going to let me go home. My eyes dropped to my feet, as I tucked my camo pants into my boots as best I could.

"Yeah, I guess." I replied sadly. I didn't know what she thought I was sad about, but it was enough for her to place her hand on my back to try and give me some comfort. A man walked up to us and kneeled in front of me.

"You were there at that things camp. It obviously captured you. Did you get a good look at the bastard? Or do you know how many there are?" He looked at me with hard eyes, but I could tell he was going out on a limb hoping I knew any information at all. It made me feel bad for him, and for a moment I considered telling them everything about the 3. I could tell them they were huge aliens, that they had muscles as thick as tree trunks. Or that they could take a punch like a breeze was just tickling their skin.

If I told them everything I know about the aliens, they might be able to defeat them. Escape the 2 hounds that Kuj'hade was so keen on using. Prepare for an attack from 3, instead of blindly hoping for the best. Either way I wouldn't be killed. At least I was hoping. But if I told them everything, that I was Kwei-Bhu'ja's pet, that he had slapped a tracking device on my leg, or that I had shared full length conversations with each of them, the people I was currently surrounded by might turn on me and use me for bait.

That was the last thing that I needed. I tried to ignore the small pang in my chest that just didn't want Kwei-Bhu'ja to get hurt. It disturbed me that I even had to shake a feeling like that away. He was an alien. A giant 8 foot tall alien, who wanted to murder these people, and keep their skulls like I kept crystal skulls. Other than the fact that he'd blatantly told me I was never leaving his side, and pushing me backward into a carcass pit, he'd never once reacted aggressively toward me. He'd even let me go to town with my fists on his gut, and they didn't strike me as the patient type.

I lifted my head, and tilted it to the side as if thinking as hard as I could. "There's only one as far as I know. I'd been here trying to air my boots out and wash off. It was so hot I was basically pouring sweat. I didn't get a good look at the thing, only that it was on top of me before I could even scream. It knocked me out, so I have no idea how I got down in that hole. I'm just lucky I'm alive." Telling half-truths, wasn't really a lie, was it?

"You are lucky to be alive. We ran into the damn thing and whatever it is, it can turn invisible. It speared a guy straight through the ribs. Why do you think it kept you alive?" I could feel his gaze hardening with suspicion, reading through the lines of my story.

"Your guess is as good as mine." And that was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The man made a humming noise as he stood up and walked away to begin talking with another man of the group. I watched him walk, and noticed the gun strapped to his back. Looking around, I noticed all the people in the group had guns, and they were also wearing camo. I looked down at myself, thankful that my clothes blended in with what they were wearing. I didn't want to seem like I didn't belong too much. I could just play it off like I'd lost my weapon when I was "taken".

"Don't mind Trevor, he's been playing leader since we all started working together. He's on edge, but who can blame him." She looked away for a moment before continuing. "My names Anastasia by the way."

"Grace." I replied shortly. I honestly didn't want to get to know these people any more than I needed to before they were killed. And the more she shared with me, the worse I was going to feel when it came down to it.

* * *

We had walked for a few hours, making a small camp after someone suggested we stop and rest. of coarse there always had to be that one person in the group that insisted we walk all day, until we either died, or found a way home. I went and sat with Anastasia on a log a ways away from the group. I could hear her talking, but had zoned her voice out. She had been telling me about her family of 100 from the moment we started walking, and i found that i couldn't care less. She asked me a question, and i was snapped out of my thoughts, staring at a strange rainbow color beetle on a branch beside me. I turned to her, feeling sheepish that i hadn't hear a thing she said.

I looked away as there was a sudden commotion ahead of us. Trevor and another man were fighting with each other, and seemed to be rolling on the ground throwing punches at one another. Anastasia stood up, then looked back at me expectantly to come join the group. I rolled my eyes internally, then we jogged over and began listening in on the argument.

"Why is it that once you place yourself in charge, people start going missing!? Two men just disappeared from under our noses!"

I looked around me, and noticed that there were no longer 7 of us. There was now just me, the other 2 girls, and the men fighting on the ground. The other girl stepped forward and began yelling at the 2 of them. She had dark black hair, and a tanned complexion.

"It has nothing to do with who's in charge! You know what that damn thing is capable of, its invisible for Christ sake! We need to keep moving. Not standing around watching you 2 idiots roll around on the ground!" As if on cue, there was a loud _shink_ sound, as what looked like a ninja star contacted with the tree trunk next to the girl's head.

Next thing I knew, the men were off the ground, and the rest of the group were running like chickens with their heads cut off. My arm was grabbed in a vice grip when I didn't move immediately, and I was pulled out of my thoughts as I began sprinting next to Anastasia. That throwing star was strategically placed. I doubt either one of their aim was that off. They were flushing us out. Either into a larger area where it's easier to get to them, or into a more closed off area where it would be harder to fight back.

Anastasia was still running clutching my wrist, and it made it harder to sprint, not being able to extend my arm fully. Just as I went to pull my wrist free from her grasp, she was plummeting downward. My chest collided with the ground, and searing pain ran through my arm as I heard a distinct pop sound come from my shoulder. I wouldn't be surprised if my wrist was dislocated too. With my good arm, I dug my fingers into the earth on the edge of the hole, and my boots gave me some traction behind me to keep me from dropping face first into a thick metal pike.

"Let go of me dammit!" I screamed at her, beyond pissed at the situation I was in. She pleaded with me, grabbing my arm with both hands and began trying to pull herself up. I screamed harder, the pain making my vision blur, and I could feel myself sliding farther into the pit the more she held on.

I screamed profanity after profanity at her, enraged that this was the way I die. I wanted to live to be 90, surrounded by grandchildren and great grandchildren on my death bed, crying and hugging before taking my last breath. Surrounded by people I loved. Not screaming in pain, wishing I could shoot daggers from my eyes at the bitch who didn't know how to give up.

There was a loud gunshot next to my head, and the ringing in my ears disoriented me for a moment, when suddenly the weight on my arm was gone. Someone pulled me up by my good arm, and gave me a gentle nudge, implying that I needed to keep running. I cradled my bad arm, wincing the entire time. The bouncing was making my arm spasm in pain, and I didn't know how much longer I could stand it.

I cried out as I collided with a hard chest, the man in front of me stopping abruptly. I looked up, to see the second man who had been fighting, and the woman had both survived. It didn't take a genius to realize Trevor was dead. I went and sat on a rock, hoping the 2 wouldn't make me run again.

The three aliens weren't even hunting me. Why did I have to be involved and get fucked up in the process. I didn't know how to reset my arm, and I sure as hell didn't want anyone doing it for me. I'd seen plenty of movies, and I prayed to the god's above that I just keel over and die right now. My boot had come untied while I was hanging over the edge of that death trap, so I sat on a tree stump near-by, and leaned forward to try and tie it while we had the chance to sit around. I cried out, pinching my eyes shut as my shoulder pulled from the position, and abruptly straightened out.

I jumped in my seat, opening my eyes to see the black-haired girl leaning over me to quickly try and tie my shoe. I jerked my foot away as she lifted my pant leg to get a tighter knot on my laces, when she gasped and threw herself away from me. A look of horror washed over her face as realization dawned on her at seeing the ankle bracelet.

"It…It's been tracking us, hasn't it? You KNEW it was following us didn't you!?"

I stayed silent, my heart pounding in my ears as fear took over me. I didn't know how much more my heart could take. It was already beating a mile per minute, and I was getting woozy from the feeling in my dislocated arm. She cocked her gun, the sound of a bullet sliding into the chamber making my skin go ice cold. I began to cry, as the real sensation of staring death in the face hit me like a sledge hammer.

"Answer me. You knew, didn't you?" I nodded my head slowly, flinching away when she jerked toward me, forcing the barrel of her gun at my face.

"How many are there!?"

I stayed silent, more tears slipping past my lashes, when suddenly the butt of her gun collided with my cheek. I landed hard on the ground, vision flashing white as searing hot pain shot through my shoulder again, and I wished it would all just end. I cried harder, rasping to catch my breath.

"There's three of them." The woman squared her shoulders at me, shared a look with the man beside her, then stepped back to level herself with him. She brought the gun up to rest against the side of her face as she peered down the site. I began wishing I had remembered their names, so I could curse them to hell and back. She tightened her grip on the gun as I pushed upright to kneel in front of her. I made eye contact with her for a moment, before shutting my eyes tightly.

A few moments of silence went by, before there was a loud slicing noise, followed by loud thumps. The noise made me jump, and as I slowly peeled my eyes open, I came face to face with Kuj'hade's golden mask, with Kwei-Bhu'ja and Thwei-Sain'ja standing on each side of him; a dead body at each of their feet. Kuj'hade was kneeling in front of me, head tilted to the side and was making a quizzical noise at me.

I felt crazy for it, but I forced a laugh back down into my stomach as relief washed over me. I tilted my head back, took a deep breath in and yelled as loud as I possibly could.

" **YOU FUCKING ASS-HOLES!"**

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I was trying not to make it too dark, but i figured why not. haha Hopefully you guys have figured out that these guys aren't your average run of the mill yautjas, and they have some pretty fucked up sense of standards. As always, if you have any ideas of what you wanna see in future chapters lemme know in a review, and if you see anything wrong dont be fraid to tell me.  
**

 **Miu-sakurai-73: Glad you like Grace!**

 **Puffgirl1952 the 2nd: Well then this chapter is dedicated to you. Thank you for the idea, and hopefully you enjoyed what little punching kwei-bhu'ja received. haha**

 **Sousie: I even feel bad for Grace when i'm typing sometimes!**

 **Tenfangirl: Half the time i don't even know what he's up to until i type a chapter. This was however a little spur of the moment thing on his part. but she'll have to give him even more chances now. she's stuck with him for quite some time.**

 **Saashi Samy: Glad you liked the chapter. :)**

 **As always thanks to everyone who reviewed, and until next time!**

 **Kuj'hade: Destroyer**

 **Kwei-Bhu'ja: Sly-Ghost**

 **Thwei-Sain'ja: Blood-Warrior**


	7. Chapter 7

Bonding

Inspiration: Jane XO – I don't wanna, by: Suicide Sheep

* * *

The silent treatment.

It works on parents, siblings, best friends and significant others. It however doesn't work on aliens, especially ones who don't talk a whole lot to begin with. I sat on the ground a few feet from the giant bonfire, drawing patterns in the ground with a stick I had broken off from a bush.

My shoulder was pulsating, the joint still swollen from when Anastasia had fallen into a trap, almost forcing me to go down with her. Thwei-Sain'ja had relocated it for me, with little to no shits given for my feelings. I had blacked out for a while, and when I came to I was sitting in the camp, arm cradled against my chest with my face covered in tears and dirt.

Anastasia's fear stricken face flashed before my eyes, and I could hear her screaming to pull her up out of danger. The way her face had paled, eyes wide open, the faint shimmer of tears preparing to force their way down her face. I closed my eyes tightly, shaking my head to get rid of the image.

The sounds were haunting me, from the moment the last 2 survivors had been killed. I can remember opening my eyes, seeing Kuj'hade crouched in front of me, head tilted. I imagined he had a smug smile under that gold mask of his, judging me in his stoic way. It made me wanna break the tusks off his mask and shove them up his-

I sighed loudly, shifting into a cross legged position. I looked up and could see Kwei-Bhu'ja looking in my direction from where he sat. _Good. I hope my silent treatment bothers him to hell and back._ The past few days I hadn't had any chances to sit and meditate to clear my mind, and with all this anger and hurt bubbling around in my head I figured now was as good a time as any.

I dropped the piece of stick and shifted into a comfortable position, placing my arms on the tops of my thighs with my fingers laced together lightly, palms facing upward. I took a deep breath in, and released through my mouth keeping a constant rhythm. I began breathing through the back of my throat, imagining the waves of the ocean washing in and out with each breath, the sound drawing me deeper and deeper into a meditative state.

I listened to every sounds around me. The crackling of the bonfire was the loudest, I could feel the heat of the flames warming the front of my body. I imagined the heat was my anger bubbling up to the surface, and before it could get too hot and boil over I breathed out slowly, letting my anger crackle away like the embers of a burning log.

There was a faint sound behind me, constant and rhythmic over a smooth surface; Kuj'hade was polishing the skull he kept as a trophy. Before I could get upset over the image my mind conjured up, I began to sync my breathing to the noise. Breath in; one pass. Breath out; another pass. With each swiping noise, I could feel my anxiety and upset being smoothed away from my soul, until all that was left was me: Calm, peaceful and happy. I smiled to myself, basking in the feeling of my aura clearing around me.

I no longer felt heavy and weighed down by the pressures the three had forced upon me. Every time I meditated, I made it a habit to say 5 things I was grateful for the past few days, then say them out loud to put them back into the universe. There weren't many, but I forced myself to think positive, find the silver lining in the whole damn situation. _Everything happens for a reason._

"The opportunity to be on another planet." I spoke lowly to myself, not really caring if one of the boys thought I was going mad. It would serve them right for putting my life through the shredder. There was a clicking sound next to me, and my voice caught in my throat as I went to speak again.

When had he moved? I had been listening to the sounds around me. I could hear the passing of a stone, but I couldn't hear the footsteps of a 300-pound alien? I slowly opened my eyes and turned toward Kwei-Bhu'ja.

"Can I help you with something? I'm trying to meditate." He tilted his head slightly, then began chittering in laughter at me, forcing my brow to scrunch.

"Meditation is silent. Inside. You are speaking out loud."

"I'm aware of what I'm doing, thank you. I'm trying to put positive energy into the world by speaking 5 things I'm thankful for these past few days. Now if you don't mind, I'm thinking." There was a snort from Thwei-Sain'ja to my right, and I realized both boys were sitting crossed legged on either side of me. A feeling I couldn't place washed over me, settling in my chest. I tried to distinguish it, but the feeling had gone as quickly as it came. I closed my eyes again as they all fell silent and began thinking of what else I could be thankful for.

"Strong bones." The two warriors on either side of me made a noise of agreement at Kuj'hade's statement, and I had to stifle a quick laugh, forcing it back into my belly. I opened my eyes, peeking at each of them. Kuj'hade had abandoned his trophy for the moment, also taking up a meditative position, and all three sat deadly still with their heads held high.

"Quick reflexes." I watched Thwei-Sain'ja puff out his chest as he spoke, clearly feeling accomplished about contributing. Of course, these guys _would_ turn it into a warrior's competition about thankfulness. I shook my head a little as I turned toward Kwei-Bhu'ja for his answer. He stayed quite for a moment, making a small noise in the back of his throat and I assumed it was out of contemplation. At least they were taking me seriously, that I could be thankful for.

"A sain'ja's spirit." They each made a quick huffing noise, as if prepared to stand up and start yelling and cheering each other on. They were like jocks in a high school, super pumped for their next game. It was quiet for a moment, and I realized they were waiting for me to finish it off with the final reason to be thankful.

I contemplated for a moment, and finally decided to play into their little warrior game. I don't know exactly why I did it, but I remember thinking about how crazy about being on this planet they all were. Practically glowing with excitement before Kwei-Bhu'ja had decided to throw me down into the pit, so I figured why the fuck not. I took a deep breath in, and looked around at each of them making eye contact before slowly speaking.

"I'm thankful for…the hunt."

Kuj'hade, always the aggressor, started the whole fiasco off. He leapt up and immediately began roaring, knees bent, arms open wide with his fingers spread and his chest pushed out, while he threw his head back. Next thing I knew all three of them were doing it, and I had no idea what I'd just set into motion. The combined sound practically shook the ground I sat on, and I stared at each of them in awe, as the same feeling from before washed over me again.

* * *

After they had all settled down, they'd each gone to finish their respective projects before packing up to head back to the ship. I was excited for an opportunity to actually see the inside of their ship, and this time I was going to make sure I wasn't unconscious. I stood by as each of them began filling bags with weapons and all sorts of things I couldn't Identify. They were all so concentrated on grabbing things, that It made me feel left out.

I looked around, and spotted an empty mesh bag that they were using to carry things in. I picked it up, and headed straight to the bonfire to start packing up some of the meat we had eaten earlier. When the bag was about half-way full, Kwei-Bhu'ja lifted it out of my hands forcing a protest out of me.

"You don't need to do that. We have food storage on the ship. These scraps would have gone to the hounds." He handed me a small bag with a few skulls in it, but hesitated as if he didn't want to give it to me in the first place. I gave him an odd look, before looking around the camp.

"What do you mean would have? Aren't they on the ship already?" I turned as Kuj'hade brushed past me lightly, 3 heavy looking bags hung over his shoulder.

"They are dead. Our prey was crafty; worthy."

"Oh. O.K." I replied slowly, and began walking toward the ship with the three aliens. "Will you get new ones then?"

"Yes. We will stop at a trading planet. We need to stock up on new supplies for the next hunt. While we are there I will pick out new pups to train."

At the word pup I began to get a excited. _They would be little hound puppies!?_ I started to imagine how cute they would look, with floppy little legs and short tusks all along their bodies. "That should be fun then."

"It will be bothersome." Kuj'hade replied, an angry tone to his voice. "They take too long to train. Most do not do well." He looked down at me, giving me a sideways glance. He hesitated for a moment, then turned away before speaking again.

"You will not get to _play_ with them either. You will make them less aggressive." My shoulders sagged the smallest bit, and I thought about dragging the bag I carried on the ground in defeat, until I remembered there were trophy skulls in it. I didn't feel like getting screamed at, so instead I opted for dragging my feet. Of course, that only lasted until they began yelling for me to hurry or they would leave without me.

* * *

We walked for a little while, then arrived in an open field. I slowed my walk as I watched the 3 stop some ways in front of me, then suddenly there was a shimmer of light and the largest ship I'd ever seen began to materialize. It was huge, and easily could have held my entire apartment complex inside of it. It was a dark silver color, shimmering with almost a coppery-green as we moved closer. The main body was oval shaped, and the nose of the ship sloped down into a point.

There were two wings on either side, that were in the same shape as the main body, and the entire ship looked as if It had scales formed into the metal. We walked closer to the front of the ship, and a round sliver of light formed on the side of the ship, before a side panel slid away and a ramp began to extend down onto the ground. I stared in awe for a moment, before the excitement overtook me and I ran to catch up with the three, hoping they weren't serious about leaving me behind.

The moment I stepped in, the door slid shut silently behind me. It wasn't very bright inside the ship, and there were red wall lamps lining the walkway I stood in. I stood still for a moment, trying to allow my eyesight to accommodate the darker atmosphere, when the lights began to glow a little brighter. I was able to make out more shapes around me, noticing that there was a heavy fog covering the floor. I kicked my leg, making the fog swish at my feet, then curl into little wisps around my legs before settling back down. There was movement to my left, and I watched as Thwei-Sain'ja came from around a corner to grab the bag in my hands.

"We've turned up the lights so you can see easier. We do not need bright light to see. You may look around the ship, but do not try to get into any room that is not already open." And with that he began walking away. I stood in place watching his back, before turning in the direction he'd come from.

As I walked, I started to notice that the walls had small protruding designs all along it, as if there was brail etched into them. The further along I went, the more I noticed that there were just empty hallways and no doors. I began to wonder why Thwei-Sain'ja would tell me not to open any doors, when there really weren't any to begin with. I placed my hand against one wall to feel the designs, when I pulled my hand back in shock.

The walls were warm to the touch, more so in the areas where there was brail. As I walked, I dragged my hand along the wall, when suddenly a red light flashed overhead. I turned quickly away from the wall, and watched as the same oval sliver of light from the entrance of the ship illuminated in front of me, before sliding out of view to reveal a room. I stood staring for a moment, then gingerly walked forward into the space.

It was a decent sized room with plenty of space to walk around if you were an 8 foot tall alien, and it had lard metal crates placed strategically around the floor. The crates had bars along them, and large dishes were in each of them. This was most likely the room where the hounds were kept. I turned around, not needing to look into the room further and exited.

The moment I stepped out of the room, the light above the doorway went out, and the panel slid back into place. I continued down the hallway, sliding my hand against the wall. Each time a light would flash above me, I would step back and wait for the light to reveal the door. Overall I'd discovered what looked like 5 king sized bedrooms, a storage room for food, a giant room that looked like it was used for training, filled with all kinds of weapons, and the cockpit where I found Kwei-Bhu'ja sitting in a giant chair, pressing a million buttons that I couldn't read.

I didn't bother him, too afraid to mess up his concentration, so I simply headed on my way down another hallway. A few times I would run my hand across a wall and a light would blink overhead, but nothing else would happen. I assumed those were the doors that Thwei-Sain'ja had told me not to try and open, so I continued on my way. As I walk, I entered a hallway with a dead end.

I walked up to the wall, assuming that a group of aliens wouldn't place a random hallway in their ship for no reason, slid my hand along the wall until a red light flashed to life above me, then I stepped back, waiting for the door to open. The tell-tale oval light shone in front of me, and as soon as the panel slid out of view my jaw hit the floor.

In front of me was the most beautiful bath house I'd ever seen in my life. It was a giant, square, roman looking pool in the center of the room, surrounded by pillars on all four corners. What surprised me, was the fact that there were also plants and vines growing along the entire room. Strange flowers grew on the vines covering the pillars, and the same fog that hung in every room was swirling around the plants and moss that were covering the ground.

Aside from the walls and the pool, everything was covered in plants. It looked like something out of the garden of Eden, and the dim lights gave the room an ethereal feel to it. The aroma from the plants started to weigh heavy on my mind, and all I wanted to do was strip down, sink myself into the water and stay there forever. At least two of those thoughts I could accomplish. I walked into the room, listening as the door slid into place behind me, and began walking toward the pool, fog swishing around my feet.

I stopped in front of the edge of the water, staring down at my reflection. My hair was a rats' nest, and I was covered from head to toe in dried, caked on blood. I had sunken bags under my eyes, and I looked more tired than I felt. I sat myself on the floor, feeling the moss under my butt. It felt softer than it looked, almost like a plush rug. I removed my boots and socks, then stood up to remove the rest of my clothes.

The moment my foot touched the water I quickly submerged myself. The pool had to be at least 9 feet deep, and I didn't even touch the bottom as I let myself sink. I opened my eyes, and watched as brown and red swirled around me, before swimming my way to the surface. I broke through the water, gasping for air, then leaned back to allow myself to float. The water was warm, and I could see steam rising off my exposed skin, the warm water soothing my swollen shoulder. The atmosphere felt more like a swimming pool than a bath, and it was just another reminder that I was no longer home; or even going to be allowed to go back.

I missed my family, my parents most of all, and it made me wonder if they were concerned that I was gone, or even how long I'd been gone to begin with. I knew that time worked differently in space, and that it can take astronauts up to months just to reach the moon. But what kind of technology do these giant aliens have? Could they move through space at a matter of seconds, opposed to years? Was it like Star Trek, where they put on hyper drive and we'll be shot through space in the blink of an eye?

I didn't even feel the ship lift into space while I was walking around, and I only knew that we were no longer on the reserve planet because I had spotted Kwei-Bhu'ja in the control area. Or at least what I assume would be the control area. I really knew nothing about these aliens, or even what they were called. And not one of them seemed too interested in opening up to me about anything. Unless it had something to do with a hunt, I doubted they'd even be interested in talking.

I sat upright in the water and swam to the ledge, noticing that there seemed to be some kind of stone bench connected to the wall, and it ran the entire circumference of the pool. It was high enough for me to be able to stand on it, the water coming up to my chest, but sitting down would put me under the water. I stood on the ledge and began looking around for anything that I could use to scrub myself off with.

On a small shelf area to my left, I noticed what looked to be sea sponges. I waded over to the shelf, but the moment I grabbed one I realized it would be too rough for my skin. It was a hard stone, blunt now from being used so many times, but still sharp enough that it would fillet my skin if I even tried to use it. I placed the stone back on the shelf and instead opted to scrub my body as well as I could with just the water and my hands.

The water had a very light, sweet smell to it, like a mix between lavender and cherry blossom, and it smelled amazing, like there were essential oils in the water. I dunked my head in and scrubbed at my hair, loosening up all the dirt and grime that had been sitting there for however long. Immediately I wished I had a bottle of shampoo and conditioner with me, but doubted the three even needed to wash their dreads. They didn't look like they had hair, simply something that just grew out of their heads. Maybe I'd be able to find something to substitute while we were on the trading planet.

When I was finished, I looked around for something to dry myself off with. There were no towels that I could see, and I began wishing I had looked earlier before jumping into the water. I resigned myself to just shaking off and putting my clothes back on, and pulled myself out of the pool. As soon as I turned toward my clothes, I screamed at the close proximity of Kuj'hade. I immediately turned away, covering myself with my hands as best as I could.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"I came to give you new clothing. I have burned your old set, they were beyond repair." He replied. I looked over my shoulder, and could see he was tilting his head in my direction, making a quick clicking sound. I immediately realized he was staring at the tattoos he could see.

"Well can you give them to me already? I'd like to get dressed." I turned away from him more as he tried to move closer to get a better look at my thigh tattoo.

"Dry off first. On the wall to your right." He pointed in the direction, and I didn't immediately see anything to dry myself with. As I walked, I hoped he wouldn't just tell me something was there to make fun of me. I stepped closer to the wall, still conscious of the fact that he was watching me, and noticed there were small holes lining the expanse of the wall at about 4 feet wide, and taller than me. There was a 4x4 patch on the ground that wasn't covered by light vegetation, so I gingerly stepped into the space.

Immediately I could feel warm air rushing against my body, but the holes in the wall made little to no noise. It was more quiet than the hand dryers in public bathrooms. _Suck it Dyson._ I laughed quietly to myself as I could feel the water evaporating off my body. When I was completely dry, I looked over my shoulder and found the clothes Kuj'hade had laid on the ground for me. I walked over, picked up the clothes and examined them. The outfit was plain brown, and was made out of lightweight leather. It was shaped like a normal tunic, but when I put it on, it seemed to fit perfectly at my waist, but stayed loose at my thighs.

I smoothed the material down my stomach, and when I turned to leave I was immediately greeted with a full on view of Kuj'hade's bare ass. I slapped my hands over my eyes, feeling my face heat up as I listened to him sink into the water. I turned around, peaking to make sure I was headed toward the door and began speed walking to get out of there. There was a quick hissing sound behind me, as if pressure was being released from something, and my brain clicked, realizing he had removed his mask for the first time since I'd known them.

My curiosity overwhelmed me, and I figured it couldn't hurt to just get a peek at his face, nakedness be damned. I stepped in front of the door, and as I slid open I slowly looked over my shoulder. Instantly I wished I hadn't; My heart dropped into my stomach and a cold sweat covered my body. I could feel my hands begin to shake just staring at his face, and he held my stare. He had bright amber colored eyes, and they were sunken into his face. His brow ridge and entire crest was lined by small spines, acting as if it was hair.

My eyes roamed further, and I watched in slow motion as the mandibles around his mouth moved, and began clicking quickly together. I at least knew now how they made such rapid noises. Everything around me snapped back into real time, and I threw myself out of the room, slamming my back against the closest wall. As the door slid closed, I hear Kuj'hade whisper:

"Humans surely are strange."

I slid my way down the wall and leaned forward, knocking my head against my knees. Why?

Why the hell did they have to look like spiders!?

* * *

 **Thanks guys for sticking with me! I've noticed lots more people are favoriting and following my story. I love it! If you could go ahead and leave me a review, even a quick one, to let me know what you think that'd be great. It took me a lot longer than usual to get this chapter out because of the holidays. I had to work more than I normally do, and that burns you out super quick. As always, love to all the people who have reviewed without an account, and I will try to post more often for you guys once my classes start up again. If you have any ideas for what you wanna see happen in this story, don't be afraid to message me and let me know. I love new ideas. Until next time!  
**

 **Crystalga: Glad you liked it. It'll most likely just get raunchier from here on out.**

 **Tenfangirl: He is isn't he? He is my own special Yautja, one that isn't quiet so well mannered.**

 **I Wright Reviews Not Fanfics: Your question will be answered in my next chapter. I'm working on it right now, so it should be up shortly after this one.**

* * *

 **Kuj'hade: Destroyer**

 **Kwei-Bhu'ja: Sly-Ghost**

 **Sain'ja: Warrior**

 **Thwei-Sain'ja: Blood-Warrior**


	8. Chapter 8

New friend

Inspiration: INFINITY by Niykee Heaton

* * *

The next few days I began avoiding the 3 boys to the best of my abilities. From the moment I saw Kuj'hade's face in the bath, I couldn't get the image out of my mind, and honestly it gave me the creeps. I HATED spiders with a deep passion. They made my palms sweaty, and half of the time I have an anxiety attack just seeing one in my bathroom shower. As far as I was concerned, they were the closest thing in space that I knew of that looked like spiders, and I wanted nothing to do with them without their masks on.

Of course, it didn't help that they'd begun walking around without their whole get-up on all together. And they were smart too. They'd caught onto the fact that I was avoiding them, especially Kuj'hade. Him being the ever persistent one, took it upon himself to be my personal torturer. If I was preoccupied in a room, I'd often turn around to find him standing behind me, beady eyes staring me down from his towering height above me.

One time, he cornered me in a small observatory area on the ship. It was a decent sized area, filled with one very large seat, big enough to comfortably accommodate one of the aliens, and a single standing platform placed a few inches in front of it. I'd learned that swiping my hand over the surface would bring up a map of the galaxy around us, and it shifted as the ship moved through space. There was also a button on the right corner that opened a panel on the wall in front of me, about as large as a movie theater screen.

I would sit in that room, staring into space and think. It was the most calming place I could find in the entire ship, aside from the training room. Kuj'hade had taken it upon himself to seek me out one particular day. On most occasions, he simply stood in the doorway, staring me down while flexing and clicking his mandibles to see how quickly I could start hyperventilating. And normally I would stand as far away from him in whatever room I was in, sweating and shaking, until he became bored and walked away, allowing me to calm down.

Well on this occasion, I was in the observatory preparing to leave, when Kuj'hade stepped into the doorway and blocked my path. Immediately my mind went into fight or flight mode, and I began looking around frantically. He had ended up leaving enough space for me to slip past him, and I had bolted like a frightened deer to the doorway. Unfortunately, I had misjudged the gap, and ended up having the press myself against him in order to squeeze through the space. He didn't even move an inch, simply looked down at me and instead raised the octave of his clicking.

Frantically I had pushed against him to create more space, and when I finally passed him I crashed hard to the ground, fog billowing around me, before getting up and running my ass out of the hallway straight to the room they had deemed as mine. I'd even gone as far as locking myself in the room for a whole day. The three never bothered me when I was in my room, and at that point it was like heaven. Eventually I'd gotten hungry enough that I left my room, but I wanted nothing more than to avoid Kuj'hade at all costs.

Thwei-Sain'ja seemed the least interested in me of the three. The first time I'd run into him, he was in the medical bay- as I'd named it- and he seemed to be working with some type of blue phosphorous liquid. I had stopped in my tracks, waiting for him to mess with me like Kuj'hade had, but the only thing I was greeted with was silence. He hadn't looked up at me once, so I opted to walk around the area, looking through clear jars and admiring the charts around the room depicting the alien's anatomy.

I wasn't able to read anything on the charts, they were in whatever language the boys spoke, but they showed the muscle structure of both their bodies and their dreads, and it even looked like there was blood and nerves running through them if I was guessing correctly. I stepped away from the charts, glancing over at Thwei-Sain'ja. He still hadn't looked up at me, and was holding a jar up above him, swirling the liquid around.

I walked around the room some more, and came upon jars with strange looking creatures floating around in liquid. I leaned closer to one jar examining the contents. It was a spider looking creature, with three legs on each side of its body, and 2 legs by its head. It was curled in on itself, and it looked like it had a long spine tail wrapping around the length of its body. I went to tap the jar, when a voice cut through the silence.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." The sound of Thwei-Sain'ja's voice startled me, and I whipped around to face him sheepishly, hands tucked behind my back.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." I replied, staring around the room to avoid his eyes.

"What is bothering you? I have noticed you don't seem too fond of any of our company." I glanced at Thwei-Sain'ja, and he had yet to look up at me. He was tapping on his wrist device, so I leaned against one of the counters behind me. I folded my arms in front of me as I considered what I would say to him. I was scared as shit of their faces, but when they had their masks on I wasn't as afraid.

Yes they could rip a corpse in half with barely a flex of their muscles, and yes they kidnapped a group of people, threw them on an island and killed them all, but other than that, they'd done nothing to me, to make me fear for my life. Well, except tossing me into a pit and using me as bait. But the idea of these giant 8 foot tall aliens having spider faces, well…it gave me the creeps. I inhaled deeply, then exhaled with a shaky breath.

"I have a fear of spiders. They have eight legs, a shit ton of eyes, and half of them can kill a human with a single bite. They freak me out, and honestly…your faces remind me of them." I rubbed my arm, staring at the floor. I was prepared for Thwei-Sain'ja to get angry, enraged that I was insulting. I'd be pretty pissed off too.

"Your species isn't the most appealing either."

I'd never thought about it that way before. Stopped to wonder if they were freaked out by the way that I look. I mean, obviously they weren't because they probably hunted worse creatures in space, but the idea was still the same. I chuckled quickly to myself and leaned away from the counter.

"Thank you, for your words of wisdom." I said, jokingly and watched as Thwei-Sain'ja tipped his head in my direction.

"You're welcome." He replied. I rolled my eyes before turning toward the doorway. I might as well go find Kwei-Bhu'ja. I doubted he really wanted to torment me the way Kuj'hade had been the last couple of days. Before I stepped out the door, I turned partially toward Thwei-Sain'ja.

"Hey, can I ask a favor of you?" I watched as he glanced up in my direction. He didn't say anything, so I took it as his agreement.

"can you tell Kuj'hade to leave me alone. If I tell him he'll just torment me even more. He loves the fact that he can creep me out so easily." I crossed my arms, huffing out a breath. Thwei-Sain'ja chittered quickly in laughter, shaking his head.

"What do you expect? He doesn't have his hounds to occupy him currently. He is the only one who is not kept busy. But I will speak with him for you."

With that, I turned out of the room and listened to the soft sound of the door closing behind me. I began walking toward the front of the ship, where Kwei-Bhu'ja preferred to be. I assumed that he was a mechanic, because he was always tinkering away at something in the room. If Thwei-Sain'ja was the medic, and Kwei-Bhu'ja was the mechanic, I guess that meant Kuj'hade was the muscle.

I laughed softly to myself. Being the muscle fit Kuj'hade perfectly. He had the intimidation tactic down to a tee. When I arrived at the control room door, I placed my hand against the wall and watched as the light above the door lit up. It stayed lit, but the door didn't immediately open. I looked around the hallway and began to turn around. If the door wasn't opening, I had figured out that it was a room the three didn't want me in without one of them in it.

As I stepped away from the door, I heard the door slide open. Turning quickly, I stared around the room for a moment before spotting Kwei-Bhu'ja in the captain's chair.

"Are you going to come in?" He asked without looking at me. I stood still for a moment longer, steeling my nerves. I walked forward until I reached the massive chair, and leaned against the side of it with my left arm. There was a giant holographic planet pulled up on the console in front of him, and he was tapping against a keyboard every so often.

I could feel the anxiety begin to kick in, so I took a calming breath trying to avoid looking at Kwei-Bhu'ja for the moment. "So, what are you doing?" I asked crossing my arms in front of me.

"I am making sure the coordinates for Borthall are input correctly. We are a short distance away from the trading planet. We will stop to get supplies, then head out for our next hunt."

I stayed silent for a while, staring at the rotating hologram, listening as Kwei-Bhu'ja shifted slightly in his seat to stare at me. My palms began to sweat and I felt like I had to move and walk around the room. I stayed planted, wiping my hands against the tunic I wore.

"Is something bothering you?" I smirked slightly at the question. It was so strange the way he acted around me. One moment he's yelling at me, and the next he's concerned with my feelings. I looked down at my hands, wringing my fingers together.

"Yeah I'm ok." I gave a short laugh, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. When I made eye contact, I quickly looked away to focus on the hologram again. "Well, I get a little freaked out when I look at you guys." Kwei-Bhu'ja gave a quick snort turning away from me.

"It's not as bad as it used to be!" I said, looking at his profile. "It's just that **Kuj'hade** keeps fucking with me. He's been creeping me out on purpose." I crossed my arms, as Kwei-Bhu'ja stopped his tapping on the console. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, then began tapping away again.

"I will speak with him if that is what you want." I took a deep breath and stared at his hands moving across the keys.

"Thwei-Sain'ja already said he would do it for me. But I don't really care who gets him to leave me alone." Kwei-Bhu'ja stilled for a moment on the keys before picking up the speed of his tapping.

"So, I am the last one you sought out?" I gave his side a quizzical look. It almost sounded like he was bothered by the fact that I'd already seen both of the boys before him, after days of being on the ship.

"Technically, I've been avoiding all of you equally. Kuj'hade is the one who has been finding me. And Thwei-Sain'ja is always moving around, so I just happened to run into him in the med room. Did you know that Kuj'hade decided to trap me in the observatory and forced me to squeeze between him and the doorway to get out? He KNEW it would freak me out!"

Kwei-Bhu'ja gave a quick laugh, shaking his head at the idea. I gave a huff of breath, crossing my arms for the millionth time.

"It's not funny to me; It's terrifying. But either way, I came looking for you. You're always in here as far as I know. I've been wandering around the ship for days and you haven't come out."

"I have to make sure the ship stays on coarse. Would you like to watch as we crash onto another planet?" He replied, not looking up from his work.

"Well it seems a little unhealthy to me. I doubt you've even been to the bath since we left the planet. Besides, you're imply that this ship doesn't have autopilot?" He stayed silent, then began tilting and turning the hologram planet. I decided to mess with him a bit, and give him a taste of his own treatment. I leaned toward him, and sniffed at him like I was smelling a strong odor. He didn't smell too strongly, which surprised me a bit. There was only a small hint of dirt and blood.

He whipped his head toward me, and I turned my head quickly away- not quick enough to miss what I assumed was shock on his face- to stare at the opposite wall and began pretending to whistle. I heard him press a button on the keyboard, and there was a loud beep before he stood and stepped away from the captain's chair.

"I will be back. Do not touch anything while I'm gone." He told me, then quickly turned to leave the room. I laughed to myself before sitting in the large chair and tucking my legs into my chest. I couldn't believe that really worked.

* * *

About a day later, we were finally docking at Borthall. I was walking around the ship, when Kwei-Bhu'ja came to find me. He was in his full outfit, but his mask was strapped to the side of his hip.

"We are headed on planet. While we are there, do not stray far from me. We only have a few things we need to restock. Then we will be leaving." He turned away from me, and waited until I was following him to begin walking. We walked to the exit of the ship, where Thwei-Sain'ja and Kuj'hade were already waiting. I found it odd that they would all exit the ship together, when they clearly stated they had different things to get.

Before I could think further, the oval light of the doorway appeared, and the door slid out of view. I could hear the bustle of the planet clearly, but it was all in so many languages. I began wondering if the translator was only to translate the boy's language, or if it worked on other aliens as well. Once the ramp touched the ground, Kwei-Bhu'ja stepped out of the ship ahead of the other two, and immediately all noise around us went silent.

I looked around at all the different races of aliens. Some were taller than Kuj'hade, and some were shorter than even me. It reminded me of a _Star Wars_ movie. Thwei-Sain'ja pushed me forward until I was standing next to Kwei-Bhu'ja, then like a force they were walking forward, emitting aggressiveness. I looked up at the side of Kwei-Bhu'ja's face. His head was held high, and I could see that his mandibles were tucked tightly into his face.

As we passed by people, I could hear them begin to whisper. Only once the door to the ship was fully closed, did the sounds of the planet pick up again, and before I knew it vendors were shouting over my head into the crowd we were moving through. Every step of the way, someone was jumping out of Kwei-Bhu'ja's path with a look of freight on their face, afraid to make eye contact. _At least im not the only one afraid of these guys._

As we passed by one stall, I watched as the vendor looked up at us, then immediately did a triple take, even going so far as to rub his eyes. I watched him as I walked, and he held eye contact with me until I felt uncomfortable and looked away.

"I will go find some hounds." I heard Kuj'hade say. Before he could turn away I called out to him.

"Can I go with you? I just wanna see what the hounds look like." He stared me down for a moment, then turned his back and began walking away.

"No." Was all he said, not even bothering to look over his shoulder at me. _Ass wipe_. I turned away from his retreating form, to see only Kwei-Bhu'ja standing staring at me. As I made eye contact, I began to feel my palms sweat, but I forced myself to look at him as long as possible. He looked away, then motioned for me to follow him.

We walked for a while, Kwei-Bhu'ja stopping every once in a while, to look at weapons and armor. If something stood out to him he would ask to get a closer look, and the vendor would hand the item to him with shaking hands. By the third stall, I began to recognize when Kwei-Bhu'ja was smirking, enjoying the stall vendors squirming uncomfortably. I looked around the stalls, but didn't see anything that really interested me.

I figured while we were on planet, I might as well try and find shampoos and conditioners to use. And definitely feminine products. Horror ran across my face as it occurred to me that I had no idea when my period was going to hit. Who knows, maybe space and different atmospheres fuck with my menstrual cycle.

"Hey Kwei-Bhu'ja?" I said, lightly touching his arm to get his attention. He made a soft trilling sound, then looked down at me.

"Do you think I could get something to wash my hair with? And I kind of need other products too." He tilted his head in question at me, then looked up at the stalls around him. He turned, then motioned for me to follow him. We walked up to a stall that looked like it was specifically for bath items. At least, that's what I assumed it was. There were jars of flower petals, jars of pastes, and bags filled with ingredients that smelled fruity. They even had a few flowers in pots that I recognized, from vines in the bath on the ship.

Kwei-Bhu'ja turned away from the stall, and proceeded to stare down every alien that tried to step up to the stall, until I was the only one standing at it. I looked around the table, but I had no idea what anything was. I didn't want to choose something that wasn't going to work, or wasn't meant for my species somehow. I began get upset, prepared to turn to Kwei-Bhu'ja, when suddenly an arm reached out in front of me, picked up 2 jars of thick liquid, and handed them to me.

I looked at the jars in my hands, then to the person who had handed them to me. She was a human, and she stood at 5 foot 1. She had a braided mohawk with beads and colorful threads weaved through them. She had braids draped over her shoulders, and her arms were crossed under her chest. Her body was covered in tattoos, with only small patches of skin having no ink, and she wore armor similar to Kwei-Bhu'ja's. She had a mesh body suit on, but her armor over it was metal instead of leather. Her skin was slightly darker than mine, the bridge of her nose was covered in freckles, and she had strikingly hazel eyes.

"You can use the green one as shampoo, and the clear one as conditioner." She said to me, pointing at the jars I now held. I looked to my hands then back at her again.

"um…thank you."

"No problem. You just seemed confused, and that one over there doesn't seem like he knows anything about what you need." She said, thumbing in Kwei-Bhu'ja's direction. He was too busy growling and chittering as passerby to notice me and the stranger talking.

"I'm Amani by the way." She started to pick out random items on the stall and began handing them to me. She said something to the stall vendor that I couldn't understand. He walked away for a moment, then came back with a small sack of item. He handed them to Amani, and she handed them to me.

"These are their version of pads basically. I always have to ask for them on special order, because apparently humans are the only species that don't go through heat cycles and absorb the blood back into their bodies." I gave her a wide-eyed look at how blunt she was. I didn't say anything, because I was actually VERY glad that she showed up when she had.

"My name is Grace. And that over there is Kwei-Bhu'ja. He's…interesting." I said, glancing between the two.

"Yeah. I can tell." Amani said. I turned toward Kwei-Bhu'ja and called out to him.

"Is there anywhere I can put these, so I don't have to carry them all day?" He walked back to me, then looked at the vendor. He said something to him in his aggressive way, and the vendor spoke quickly back to him. Kwei-Bhu'ja turned back to me and started grabbing the items out of my hands.

"He will have them delivered to the ship." He said, then stopped abruptly when he noticed Amani standing so close to me. He began growling, but before he could say anything to her, there was a responding growl behind me. I turned to look at the one who made the noise. He was a large alien, and looked exactly the same as Kwei-Bhu'ja. He was decked out in silver metal armor, and wore the same mesh underneath as Amani.

His dreads fell over the sides of his face and his shoulders, instead of being swept back from his face, and he was shorter than Kwei-Bhu'ja by a good foot and a half. His skin was a dark forest green, and he had a black and tan diamond pattern along the crest of his head.

"You would be wise to leave my ooman alone, Yautja Zabin."

"You think you are any threat to me?" Kwei-Bhu'ja replied. Amani grabbed my arm, and pulled me away quickly. By the time I knew what was happening, a hole had opened in the crowd, and the 2 aliens were swinging punches at one another. There was growling and howling as I watched the two exchange blows. Before long, Kwei-Bhu'ja got the upper hand, and began over powering the shorter alien. He grabbed the other alien and threw him over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground.

I tried to run toward Kwei-Bhu'ja and stop the fight, but Amani pulled be backward.

"You don't wanna get caught in that. You'll make your n'yaka-de look week, and you could get hurt." She said, holding onto my arm with an iron grip.

"But he's gunna kill him! That doesn't bother you?" I said, frantically looking at her calm face.

"They aren't allowed to kill each other. This is a neutral planet. All disputes are to be settled without death. You can beat the living shit out of each other, as long as both parties can walk away. If he DOES kill Tarei'hsan, he'll be in a shit ton of trouble." I looked to Kwei-Bhu'ja, noticing the two aliens were no longer punching each other, but seemed to be wrestling to overpower one another.

"So…they're just seeing who's the stronger one?"

"Yes." Amani replied, releasing my arm once she was sure I wasn't going to run into the fight. I stood beside Amani, watching as the fight seemed to end, and Kwei-Bhu'ja walked toward us, chest puffed out. He had a broken mandible, and it sat at an awkward angle. He stopped in front of me, and I could see the other alien walking up behind him, brushing dirt off his armor.

"I would have beaten you in a fight to the death." He said, looking up at Kwei-Bhu'ja.

"We can always fight again off planet. I would be more than willing to prove you wrong." He said, crossing his arms. He looked down at me, then down to Amani. He inspected the outfit she wore, then turned back to me making a mental decision.

"I still have to buy items for our next hunt. You may stay here if you like." I looked at Amani then to the two aliens standing in front of me.

"I think I wanna stay here and talk with Amani for a while. It would be nice to be around another human for a while." _Especially one that isn't going to be turned into a trophy._ Kwei-Bhu'ja nodded his head, before turning around to continue shopping. The shorter alien stepped up to Amani, grabbed her shoulder and shook it quickly.

"I will be back. I still have things to buy as well." Amani looked at him skeptically.

"Are you sure you'll be alright with him for long? You know how they can be." She said, grasping his forearm lightly.

"Yes, we should be civil for a while. I cannot guarantee that we will not at least fight again." He unclasped a small bag from his waist and handed it to Amani. She gave a quick woot, before he walked away. I followed Amani as she walked away, and we sat on the edge of a giant fountain. The spray from the water felt good on my skin, and it was a nice reprieve from the hot sun.

We sat talking for a while, getting to know one another. I learned that Amani had been with Tarei'hsan-Thwei for about 2 years. He had taken her as a pet also, but while they were on a hunt, she had saved his life and proven herself as a worthy warrior. She explained that the aliens were called Yautja, and they were considered the ultimate hunters of the universe.

I learned the basics of Yautja culture, and that Tarei'hsan was surprisingly the usual height for a Yautja. He was 7 foot tall, so that meant that Thwei-Sain'ja and Kwei-Bhu'ja were 8 and a half feet tall, leaving Kuj'hade at a whopping 9 foot.

"Can you explain to me what their names mean, since you know the language. Thwei-Sain'ja told me that some words don't translate with the chip they put in my neck." Amani laughed, leaning back against the edge of the fountain.

"At least they gave you a translator. I had to fight my first year having no idea what Tarei'hsan was saying. But yeah, I can at least roughly translate them. Thwei-Sain'ja basically means Blood-Warrior, and Kwei-Bhu'ja means Sly-Ghost." I imagined them in my mind, now that I knew what their names meant. _Oh yeah, definitely fits them perfectly._

"Ok, well what about Kuj'hade?" Amani stopped for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

"That…is a very aggressive name. It means destroyer. For a lack of a better word at least."

"Well just wait. You think his name is aggressive, wait until you meet him. He's an asshole, who has made it his personal vendetta to fuck with me on every given occasion. He was probably breaking necks by the time he was a year old." She laughed harshly, slapping my shoulder in a friendly way.

"How are you even friends with those three then?" I rubbed my shoulder, looking into the busy crowd.

"Technically speaking, I'm not really friends with any of them. Thwei-Sain'ja is the only one who hasn't completely flipped his shit on me yet." We sat in silence for a while, just people watching in the hot sun.

"So…what are these guys? My Yautja at least. They have yet to tell me anything about themselves, other than the fact that they're hunters." I asked, watching as Kwei-Bhu'ja rifled through a box of trinkets at a stall.

"As far as I know, they technically don't have a name. Or at least, not one that anyone is willing to share. I just call them the SY. The 'Super Yautja'. They're bigger- as you can see- stronger, faster, more aggressive, and sometimes I think they have better weapons. Not that Tarei'hsan would admit that."

Amani laughed quickly to herself before leaning in closer to me. "None of the Yautja actually want anything to do with their kind. I mean…they're the same species yeah, but they're different at the same time. They're just kind of crazy. "

"So you mean, they're like bad bloods?" I gave Her a worried look, becoming afraid of what she might say.

"Technically speaking? Yes. If we were going based off the normal Yautja culture, they've broken all the rules. They've kidnapped people, hunted people with no mercy, used no honor at all. But since they're considered their own 'species' so to say, the arbitrators can't do shit about it. They just don't allow the SY onto Yaut Prime- that's their home world by the way- and they try to avoid them at all costs. If you run into one on non-neutral ground, well…that's just the dice you've been dealt."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I said, giving her a skeptical look.

"Well if you haven't already noticed, the SY love to kill. Not just for the trophies, but because they like it. The blood, the guts, the fighting. It turns 'em all on. More so than a normal Yautja, the SY crave that shit. So if you run into one out in space or on a hunting planet, you can kiss your ass goodbye. Why do you think everybody keeps giving you weird ass looks? Think about it; nobody really thinks twice about pets. They're normally dirty and smell bad- unless you have a shit ton of money to keep them clean and well dressed- and they're like dogs would be to humans. Everybody pretty much has one.

But NOONE…has ever seen a SY own a pet. They're too bloodthirsty, and they either wanna eat you, or make you a trophy. Especially a human. You're a fucking Enigma dude." She plucked at the small bag of candies Tarei'hsan had given her, then reached over to offer me some. I grabbed a handful, then shifted to stare into the water of the fountain. This was all too crazy. The three boys were no normal Yautja, and as far as everyone on this planet was concerned, I should already be dead.

"So there really is no explanation for why Kwei-Bhu'ja made me his pet? Am I just doomed to never fucking understand these guys?" Amani laughed harshly, holding her stomach for a moment.

"Well, unless you're a sacrifice of some sort, I really don't have an answer. But if you were, I guarantee they would have told you. And you definitely wouldn't be sitting here eating candy with me. What did Kwei-Bhu'ja tell you the reason was?"

"He never actually said anything to me about it. But Thwei-Sain'ja told me it was because he found me INTERESTING. But he's the only one; Thwei-Sain'ja doesn't really care about me, and Kuj'hade only ever wants to push me around. " I crossed my arms, thinking about the midnight colored Yautja. The simple fact that he wouldn't let me help him pick out new hounds pushed my buttons. In a childish way, yes. But upsetting none the less.

"What the hell did you do to make yourself interesting to HIM?" Amani exclaimed, leaning in closer with a look of wonder on her face. I threw my hands into the air, making an exasperated sound.

"I literally didn't do anything! I was in the forest one day because I love walks in nature, and it helps me clear my mind. I was by a waterfall high up in the mountain, so I decided to do some yoga. I'm pretty good at inversions- When you do poses upside down, or with the main use of your core muscles- and then next thing I know I'm being chased out of the forest, stalked in my own home and given fucking skulls as some sort of twisted gift!"

Suddenly she was choking beside me, and she started hacking and pounding her fist on her chest. Before I could even help her, she took a deep breath in and turned on me frantically. She went deadly quiet, to the point that I could hear a ringing in my ears, despite the bustle of the aliens around us. She slowly leaned toward me, and scooped my hands into hers before making eye contact.

"So you're telling me…that he gave you a skull. As a gift. For no apparent reason at all?" I stared at her, taking in the features of her face to try and determine where the conversation was going. My heart beat picked up, and my palms began sweating from the intense stare she was giving me.

"Well…yeah. I mean it was before I'd even seen what he looked like. Plus I have a crystal skull collection, so I think he just wanted to add something to it. Or something." Amani squeezed my hands tighter, and took another deep breath before leveling a wide tooth grin at me.

"Dude." I hesitated a moment before answering.

"Yes?"

"He. Wants. To. FUUUUUUCK. You."

She stared at me as I registered her statement, then immediately began squealing as realization dawned on me. The reason he finds me so "Interesting". The only reason I'm his pet, is so he can have sex with me!

"Are you fucking kidding me right now!? I'm his damn sex slave?"

"No, no, no! Not at all. If you were, he would have already forced himself onto you like, forever ago." She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "You're just a pet, but I'm willing to bet it wouldn't bother him if you wanted to hit it, and never fucking quit it."

"O.K, O.K already. I get the mental picture. But why are you so excited about this?" I ran my hands down my face, feeling slightly overwhelmed. She hooked her arm over my shoulder and pulled me close.

"Because. Look at him. What do you see?"

"A 9 foot tall alien with a crab face, that KIND OF reminds me of a spider."

"Yeah that's true. BUT…look at him as a whole. What can you tell me about Kwei-Bhu'ja?" She shook my shoulder a little, bumping me against her arm.

"Um…he has a shit ton of muscle, but it's not over done like a body builder. He's lean, and fast and can run for fucking miles." Amani unhooked her arm from my shoulder, then held her hands out in front of us with her thumbs and forefingers in the shape of a square. She began moving them forward and backward, pretending to zoom in a camera.

"Exactly. Now imagine; with all that muscle, don't you think he'd be able to lift you up like you were a fucking twig? Your weight wouldn't mean shit to him. And…he has stamina baby. Stamina for days."

I began leaning toward her, pretending to look through the "camera" she was pointing at Kwei-Bhu'ja's ass, then she pretended to zoom in on his crotch as he turned toward us to walk to another stall.

"Plus; since he _IS_ 9 feet tall, you know what they say about big ass aliens."

My face immediately flushed as I leaned away from her, and my eyes widened as she looked at me and began wiggling her eyebrows. "Holy shit, stop! I feel like such a fucked-up person!"

"No. It's the exact opposite of fucked up. You're in space. AND you're the pet of a bad ass alien with a killer body. I envy you right now honestly. The Yautja have a shit ton of taboo about 'inter-species' sex. It's kinda like bestiality to them, but only certain clans will acknowledge the fact that humans can be mates too. I've only had the _pleasure_ of sleeping with Tarei'hsan once. And holy shit it is glorious. He just won't have sex with me again until he can figure out a way to switch clans without everyone thinking he did it for me. But the SY don't abide by normal Yautja society. They could give a rat's ass what anybody says. Nothing is forbidden between the two of you.

In addition, you really don't wanna be having sex with any of these male humans. They're hornier than men on earth, and they're more sexist and aggressive than them too. If you starve a dog long enough, it starts to bite the hand that feeds it. At least Kwei-Bhu'ja wont possibly hurt you doing it. And if he does, he can patch you up on his ship."

I covered my face with my hands, as the heat grew. I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with a woman I just met this morning. It was beyond strange, and deep down I felt like it was taboo to humans as well. But Amani made a good point, I am in space. And Kwei-Bhu'ja specifically told me on the reserve planet, that I was never going home. I would be on the ship with three 9 foot tall aliens, 24/7, and only able to see other humans when we made pit stops at neutral or trading planets.

And really, what were the odds that there would be a human that I'd even wanna have sex with, or even that I'd run into the same human twice. Especially one that didn't have some sort of disease if I was being honest with myself. I didn't wanna be one of those girls who had sex with just anybody because I was horny enough, on earth or off.

"Alright. Say I WAS taking all this into consideration. His face still creeps me the fuck out. And since we're being honest here, I'm not a strictly doggy style kind of girl."

Amani smiled at me, thinking for a moment before bumping me with her elbow. "Well, you could always ask him to wear his mask the first time you do it. They look pretty damn cool, and if anything he might just think you're some kind of super kinky human. Then if it's good enough, which I think you'll agree, you won't really give a shit what his face looks like after that."

We both immediately cracked up with laughter. I held my stomach to stop myself from falling off the fountain bench, and I could see Kwei-Bhu'ja walking toward us, exchanging an odd head tilt with Tarei'hsan making us laugh even harder.

* * *

 **Kuj'hade: Destroyer**

 **Kwei-Bhu'ja: Sly-Ghost**

 **Tarei'hsan-Thwei: Scorpion-Blood**

 **Thwei-Sain'ja: Blood-Warrior**

 **N'yaka-de: Master**

 **Zabin: Insect**

 **Alright guys, I know I said this chapter would be out right after the last one, but it took me a little longer than I anticipated to get the full effect I was looking for from this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it, and if you have any ideas for what you wanna see happen in future chapters just let me know. I love new ideas! I hope you like Amani too. She is officially inspired by my lovely roommate. Thank you guys so much for the love and support, and I'll see ya next time!**

 **Tenfangirl: I'm glad you like my Yautja so much :) They are basically my dream version haha**

 **Puffgirl1952 the 2** **nd** **: Thank you very much.**

 **Sousie: This chapter is dedicated to you, and your lovely idea. It opened up a perfect opportunity for me to show off Kuj'hade's personality.**

 **Haylz93: Thank you for the support!**

 **NLia: I hope this chapter has explained your question haha. He was just kind of assuming she would understand his gesture.**


	9. Chapter 9

One Day At A Time

Inspiration: Imaginary Friends By- Tove Lo

 **xXxXxXxXxXx**

Amani and I were best friends by the end of the day. I wasn't sure how long I'd been in space, but it was refreshing to have another human to talk to. One that understood exactly what you were going through, and wouldn't judge you for saying you were tired as shit. We had talked for hours, about the Yautja culture and about their mannerisms as well. Amani still wasn't too sure about Kwei-Bhu'ja specifically, since he wasn't a normal Yautja. Since the SY were considered their own subspecies by the Yautja, they didn't have to follow the same rules laid out by elders and arbitrators.

Although, since having our little sex conversation about Kwei-Bhu'ja, I had found a way to get right under his skin. She told me that touch was one of the very basic gestures you could use to show a Yautja what you wanted, sub-species or not. Whether to fight, be consoled or be intimate, every touch had a specific meaning.

Essentially meaning, that if I touched him just about anywhere on his body without showing aggression, he'd practically give into any of my demands, because it held the possibility of sex for him. More so because he didn't have any stigma's surrounding him about having sex with a human. And per Amani, he wanted it bad.

Amani had ended up talking me into walking around the market with her, Kwei-Bhu'ja and Tarei'hsan-Thwei trailing behind us, giving each other the occasional shoulder bump to try and stay one step ahead of the other. We walked with our arms linked to one another while we picked up random trinkets at each stall, and tried on jewelry. As we continued to walk some ways ahead of the 2 Yautja, a fat man stepped in front of us, blocking our path.

He was shorter than me, but slightly taller than Amani, and he wore a million rings on his fingers. He was an off yellow color to his skin, and it shone in the light of the sun looking like he was about to start sweating at any minute, whether from the heat or because that's just the way his skin was. He had a humanoid face, but there were 4 eyes staring me down. Before I could continue my observation of the man, a flash of the most beautiful outfit I'd seen all day crossed in front of my eyes.

He was hold the outfit out to his side, trying to display the garment for me to get a better look. The outfit was in two pieces, made up of a bikini style top, and a billowing borderline sheer skirt. The whole outfit was a deep burgundy red, and the skirt bled into a rich black color at the bottom. The top had a few gold jewels lining the straps, and a tassel looking embellishment hanging down the front of it. The overall effect had me wishing I was a gypsy. AND wishing I had money to buy the outfit. Or whatever they used as currency on this planet.

I looked to the man's face as he began speaking, trying to avoid direct eye contact with EITHER pairs of his eyes. The translator in my skull didn't register a thing he said, so I just stood silently admiring the clothes as Amani began arguing with the man in his language. He was blocking the path for us to walk away, clearly seeing that I was interested in the outfit he held. Amani said something to the vendor, and he recoiled as if physically smacked. A dark look settled on his face, and I could feel Amani tense her muscles, prepared to retaliate if the need arose.

Very slowly a shadow loomed over our bodies, blocking the sunlight and effectively sending the vendor scurrying back into whatever stall he came from. We both turned to see Kwei-Bhu'ja staring off in the direction the man had run off to, growling lowly in his chest. Soon after Tarei'hsan stepped up beside him, giving a quick nod in Amani's direction. The boys pushed their way past us, and continued the walk now effectively leading the way and shielding us from pesky vendors.

Before we knew it, the sun was beginning to set and Kwei-Bhu'ja was tapping away on his wrist gauntlet, looking about ready to burst out of his own skin. He'd turned quickly to me, dreads whipping around behind him, and leveled me with a hard stare.

"We're leaving. Kuj'hade and Thwei-Sain'ja are back on the ship."

Amani had wanted me to stay a few days on the planet, since her and Tarei'hsan would be staying until his negotiations for ship parts went through, allowing us to talk more about the Yautja and what I could expect (considering the 3 aliens I was stuck with weren't too keen on giving me any kind of information.) Before Kwei-Bhu'ja could fully turn to walk away, I reached out and placed my hand on his forearm gently, and he immediately froze in place.

It was the first time I'd ever voluntarily touched him since being taken from Earth. The feeling was as much of a shock to me as it was to him, as if even I wasn't expecting the contact despite planning this exact moment in my head. I stared at my hand, where my skin met his. I was expecting hard scales, like a giant lizard, dry and scaly possibly, but his skin was much smoother than that. I could still feel slight ridges to his skin, but they were less defined feeling than they looked.

I slowly swiped my thumb along the taut muscle under his skin, and it gave the smallest twitch in response. It felt like I was trapped in that moment for hours, staring down at our point of contact, warmth radiating from his skin to soak into my fingers, when I began to register a low rumble break through the fog that had enveloped my mind. My eyes slowly worked their way up his arm, admiring the way the leather armor was shaped, fitting every contour of his upper body perfectly.

When my eyes reached his mask, I realized he was looking at me. I could feel his intense gaze through the deep black eyes, and it sent a sharp static feeling straight down my spine. _It's that feeling again. The one I felt just before we left the reserve planet._ I didn't know If I wanted to stand there and stare into his eyes until I figured out exactly what this feeling was, or if I wanted to run as far away as I could until I found a nice rock to lay under until the feeling just went away entirely.

Either way, it was too late for plan B. I'd already put my "sex as bait" plan into motion, and by the way Kwei-Bhu'ja was looking at me, and the feeling that every muscle in his body was tightly coiled, prepared to somehow fight to get me into his bed, he wouldn't let me go back on my plan anyway.

I cleared my throat nervously, keeping my hand placed lightly on his arm, subconsciously continuing to run my thumb along his forearm.

"I was wondering…if we could stay on the planet for a few more days. Amani is super cool, and I just wanted to stay and talk with her for a while longer."

God I sounded like a teenager asking her dad if she could go to a party at some boy's house. I could feel Kwei-Bhu'ja tense just the slightest, his heart beat steadily thumping in his veins, helping me to ground myself in the decision he made. I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world if he said no, I could always collaborate with Amani on a way to get the boys to get along long enough to go to a reserve planet together. Maybe.

"Won't have enough to trade for a longer docking. The ship needs to move away from the planet."

My heart sank as the words left his mouth. I glanced over to Amani, and I could tell we shared the same thought. _When would I be able to see her again._ My only consolation laid in the fact that he hadn't outright refused my request. I let out the breath I hadn't known I'd been holding, letting my hand slide away from Kwei-Bhu'ja's arm. I stared at my feet, prepared to admit defeat and just wish Amani farewell before I became too attached, when Tarei'hsan made a small chuffing noise beside her, the Yautja's equivalent to clearing their throat.

He seemed completely hesitant to speak, either because he realized he really didn't want to now that he had our full attention, or that he didn't know how the information would sit with any of us. I wasn't really concerned. Hell, if it could get me to stay be Amani's side for a few more days and learn as much as possible about my SY companions, I'd be on cloud nine.

"Our…clan ship is positioned close by the planet. Is my place to invite to clan ship on behalf of Sain'ja Amani for you as guests."

Immediately it was like a cold front swept its way across the space we stood in. I could practically feel the air around Kwei-Bhu'ja freeze over, and in response Amani and Tarei'hsan stiffened.

"Will inform hunt brothers."

Kwei-Bhu'ja turned quickly and walked some ways away to begin furiously tapping on his wrist gauntlet. I sidled my way to Amani's side, and cast my eyes to Tarei'hsan.

"Thank you" I said softly, giving him a nod of gratitude. He rumbled deep in his chest, acknowledging me as he stared at Kwei-Bhu'ja's back. I hooked my arm with Amani's, leaning in to speak.

"What the hell was that all about?" Amani stared after Kwei-Bhu'ja before turning to me again.

"From what I've learned so far about the SY, this invitation is not to be taken lightly. Kwei-Bhu'ja could either take it as an insult that Tarei'hsan would invite 3 subspecies Yautja to his clan ship, in hopes that they would be overwhelmed and killed. Or he could consider it a grand opportunity to breed with females.

Apparently not many SY are born female. The more abundant normal Yautja like Tarei'hsan have scores of women, while SY females come by the handful. And considering theirs are stronger than normal Yautja, I doubt the boys would turn down an opportunity to go at it with a more docile female."

"Do you think he'll say yes? I mean, that _IS_ a pretty big offer."

She looked as skeptical about the whole thing as I felt, leading me to believe that she had no idea it was even an option.

"I'm not sure. I've heard of SY being invited to clan ships before, but I've never witnessed the event myself. It's usually an invitation to more docile Yautja's, ones they know won't cause a lot of havoc, or at least won't do a lot of damage if they must be taken down. And it's normally after a Yautja has created a brotherly bond with the SY, either by saving each other during a hunt or some other encounter along those lines.

Meaning the SY would have no reason to be aggressive on a clan ship. Either way, I could tell that Tarei'hsan was nervous about the whole thing, debating whether he should just rescind his offer all together. But that could be considered ruder than asking to begin with, neutral planet be damned."

I involuntarily began to think of the other two Yautja that were currently on the ship waiting. I knew that Thwei-Sain'ja wouldn't be a problem. So far, I'd learned that he was rather unassuming when it came to trivial matters, so I figured he would be able to calmly approach any possible altercations with a level head. Kuj'hade on the other hand was the exact opposite of level headed.

I could guarantee that at the first sign of trouble, Kuj'hade was guaranteed to be in the middle of it. He was like a dog that just wanted to throw itself into another dog's fight, simply because he wanted to be included. And he was the tallest Yautja of the troupe, no doubt it would cause quite a few bristled feathers so to speak. Not that he wouldn't enjoy the attention, but it was whether he could control himself for more than an hour or not.

Kwei-Bhu'ja returned shortly, far less tense than he had been. He stopped within arm's reach of Tarei'hsan, and quickly slammed his fist against his chest, letting off a deep throaty rumble. Tarei'hsan returned the sound in kind, not moving an inch.

"Kuj'hade wants to kill while fighting. He is a Kha'bj-te." Tarei'hsan let off a quick chirp, throwing his head back with the force of it, dreads slapping against the expanse of his back.

"I will inform the elders." He replied. I looked to Amani for clarification, and after she had finished chuckling she turned to me.

"He called Kuj'hade a maniac for wanting to kill while fighting to impress females. Females don't care if you kill, only if you win. He's just going to do it because he's blood thirsty, so Tarei'hsan will inform the elders to warn anyone who wishes to fight, to be prepared to kill or be killed."

I didn't see how that was funny to any of them, but I did know Kuj'hade, and maniac was the perfect word to fit his profile. That, and _asshole_.

 **xXxXxXx**

The four of us soon parted ways. Kwei-Bhu'ja and I headed back to the ship to prepare to move it from the docking bay, to be able to store it inside the clan ship. I was still in shock over the fact that there were hundreds of other sentient life forms, let alone a docking station for their space ships. I wondered how many other planets there were, and how far away from earth's galaxy we had to be for our scientists to not even know a quarter of this existed. I guess we really were the babies of the galaxy.

As soon as we stepped onto the ship, Kuj'hade and Thwei-Sain'ja were waiting for us, practically dancing on their toes. Actually, they were just standing there staring at us. But Thwei-Sain'ja had his mandibles tucked tightly into his face, and Kuj'hade wasn't even clenching his fists. Now if that isn't bubbly giddiness on their behalf, I don't know what ever would be.

The boys had dressed up for their time on the clan ship, with their leather armor looking like it had been recently polished, and the beads in their dreads had been swapped out for cleaner newer looking ones. Kuj'hade was wearing larger teeth along the strap that dangled in front of his codpiece, and even strung along a tiny skull of some rodent creature. He'd refreshed his signature hairstyle, half of his dreads hanging swept behind his head, and the other half tied up and fanned out like a turkey's tail feathers, but this time he wound brown leather straps around a few of them, instead of his normal red.

Thwei-Sain'ja had replaced the golden beads in his dreads with wooden beads, and they had intricate carvings on them that I couldn't quite make out. There were smaller beads on his two top tusks to draw attention to his mouth, and his dreads shimmered in the low lighting of the ship, as if he's taken some of the oils from the bath and rubbed them with it. The whole situation was funny to think about. They were dressing themselves up, trying to look good and impress the ladies with their looks, before they decided to put some smack down on some other Yautja to win the females over. I shook my head at the boys, as I registered Kwei-Bhu'ja walking toward the front of the shop.

"You will not get dressed." Kuj'hade stated toward Kwei-Bhu'ja, more than asking a question. As if he already knew the answer to begin with. Kwei-Bhu'ja stopped in his tracks before looking over his shoulder right at me.

"I have no need to." He stated. I could tell his response was directed at me, and immediately my face turned bright red remembering our moment in the market square, feeling the tips of my ears grow hot. I wrung my hands together, too proud to hide my face from the blush. I'd dug this grave, knowing damn well what it would get me in the end. And Kwei-Bhu'ja didn't strike me as the type to let me keep playing the field without collecting on his reward in the end.

Thwei-Sain'ja made a somewhat disgruntled sound in the back of his throat, before shouldering his way past Kwei-Bhu'ja toward the front of the ship.

"Don't try to hinder us, just because you pauk pyode amedha." Kwei-Bhu'ja flared his mandibles as Thwei-Sain'ja turned to walk away. Kuj'hade gave an interested rumbled beside me, tilting his head to the side like a curious dog. He looked from Kwei-Bhu'ja to me several times, flexing his mandibles to say something when Kwei-Bhu'ja growled low, effectively cutting him off, then turning quickly with a huff before storming away after Thwei-Sain'ja.

Kuj'hade leveled me with a stare, making a noise equivalent to a big cat purring before following after the other two. "Interesting ooman." Was all he said before vanishing down the hallway. I walked my way to my room, intent on keeping myself busy for however long it would take to make our way off the planet and into clan ship. Kwei-Bhu'ja was an excellent pilot I was assuming, because I never once felt the ship entering or leaving the atmosphere of any of the planets we'd been to so far.

Granted the first trip to the reserve I'd been unconscious for the touchdown, but from what I'd learned about human space ships, the landings were none too elegant. Albeit we didn't have the same technology as the Yautja, or even other alien species for that matter, but I just liked to believe that Kwei-Bhu'ja was just very good at what he did.

There was a slight jolt to the ship, and I was thrown to the side, grabbing for the closest thing to me. My hand latched onto a fur that lay in the inverted domed bed, but I missed the edge and instead pulled the blanket down to the floor with me, ending up underneath it as I heard the door slide open.

"You are sleeping? You would rather not join us on the clan ship?" It was Kwei-Bhu'ja who entered the room. He came to a stop by my head, and I could see his sandaled feet from underneath the fur. I pushed the heavy pelt back from my face, craning my neck to look at him.

"I fell when you jolted the ship for no reason." I scratched at my head, looking away from him.

"Kuj'hade docked the ship. I came to make sure you got dressed." _Figures. Kuj'hade probably couldn't fly a ship worth a damn. Then again, neither could I._ I watched Kwei-Bhu'ja curiously as he walked to a panel in the wall where I knew clean loincloths and fur outfits for me waited. He placed his hand against the wall, then turned it clockwise, pulling a coatrack looking shelf out of the wall.

I hadn't known that was there, and I had practically touched everything in this room with my hands at least 3 times. I walked closer to him, trying to look around his body at the contents of the shelf, but his build kept me from seeing until he had fully stepped out of my way. My jaw practically hit the floor at the outfit hung in front of me.

It was the outfit from the market that the short alien had been trying to sell to Amani and me. The burgundy looked more like a red wine color in the lighting of the ship, but I could tell it was the same one by the way the jewels were placed. I reached out to touch the outfit, jaw slack as I tried to form coherent words.

"How…When did you even have time to buy this? You were with us the whole time after you scared that vendor away." Kwei-Bhu'ja gave a disgruntled huff, bottom mandibles clicking together irritably.

"I purchased it while you and the Sain'ja ooman were speaking. He was trying to resell it to you until he saw me."

That guy did strike me as a little shifty. He was probably hoping he could sell the outfit a second time to get double the profit, then keep the first set of money after Kwei-Bhu'ja left the planet, deeming the garment not worth returning for once he realized it wasn't on board the ship. But when he realized we were part of Kwei-Bhu'ja's group, he most likely panicked and had it sent to the ship immediately.

It was bad enough pissing off an alien that was bigger than you, but one that had a galaxy wide reputation for breaking necks first and asking questions later was the last species you wanted on your bad side.

"I imagined it would look pleasing on you. Now you have a purpose to wear it on the clan ship."

I didn't know whether to be flattered that he thought something as revealing as this would look good on me, or to be paranoid that he knew so much about what I would find interesting in clothing. I chose to be flattered instead, and tentatively reach out to touch the fabric. It was made of smooth silk, and it felt like water running across my hands as the fabric slipped between my fingers. The top was like a bralette, with the cups made of solid fabric, and a sheer overlay of fabric designed in a halter top fashion.

I grabbed the hem of my short dress, prepared to shimmy it up and over my head when I remembered the tan giant in the room. I turned my head to see him intently staring at my face, oblivious to my dilemma.

"Could you maybe, like…turn around so I can change?" I said, frozen in place. He huffed again, annoyed with my _ooman antics_ before turning to face the bed. I quickly peeled my clothes over my head, before grabbing the two-piece outfit off the rack. The top and skirt were made out of some kind of spandex material. They seemed slightly too big at first, but after I had the skirt pulled up to sit on my hips, the upper portion seemed to contour to my body while leaving the fabric from my thighs down flowing freely.

The same thing happened once I had the top over my head. It was as if someone dumped water on me, and suddenly the clothes were a little tighter fitting than they had been previously. It was amazing as far as I could say. One alien material that acted like 4 earth materials all in one outfit. Versace would be swooning.

I cleared my throat to let Kwei-Bhu'ja know I was ready to go. He turned around and regarded me with a look that I couldn't decipher, and slowly reached his hand out to me, claw extended in a point. I held my breath as he moved closer, when I felt his finger lightly stroke the intricate jewel hanging against my sternum as if he might break me easily.

He probably could I'm sure, and I was grateful that he could actually control himself. He turned after pulling his hand away, pushing the rack back into its place in the wall. He pressed another panel on the right side of the wall, and a rack of shoes pulled out. _How the hell have I never found these racks before!? I would've killed for some dress up a few days ago!_ Before I could throw myself at the rack, Kwei-Bhu'ja picked out a pair and blocked me from the rest as the shelf closed.

They were leather, as was everything in the boys' arsenal, but they didn't look like any shoes I'd seen them wear before. He must have bought them to go with the outfit. They were a deep wine red and they were as open as sandals could get. There was a sole for my feet to sit on and protect my feet from the cold metal of the ship, but the only thing holding my feet against the shoe was a thick band of leather on the arches, with roman style laces to tie up my calf. They would make a _flipping_ sound every time I took a step, but it didn't bother me much, knowing I at least got to switch up my apparel a little more often now.

I slipped the shoes on, and laced them up before turning to Kwei-Bhu'ja. He gave a nod of as I smoothed my hands down the skirt, then turned to exit the room. I followed closely behind, listening as a loud clanking sound could be heard several times against the side of the ship. I didn't have time to wonder too closely about the noise as we reached the door to exit the ship. The boys were already standing waiting for us when we arrived, and Kwei-Bhu'ja took his place in the center of them, pulling me up beside him as he had on the trading planet.

I could feel my heart rate pick up as the thin line of light outlined the entrance, notifying us that the door was about to slide open. My mind drifted to how each Yautja would look individually, and how many of them there would be. Would there be a planet worth of the aliens, or like a small clan? All things I would soon find out. There was still so much I didn't know about the Yautja.

The sound of the ramp lowering pulled me out of my musings, and I waited for Kwei-Bhu'ja's que for our dramatic entrance. The soft clang of the ramp touching the metallic ground of the clan ship had him rolling his shoulder, and he took his first step into the ambient lighting.

 **xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

 **I am soooooooo sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out. Writers block is one of my worst enemies. That along with the stress of school work, and wondering if my degree is really the thing I wanna pursue for my future. I'm trying to get back into the groove of things, get my mojo back baby~. Any how, thank you to everyone that has reviewed and favorited or followed my story, and hopefully I can get the next chapter out in good timing, if my brain cooperates with me. If you notice any errors or have any ideas about what you want to happen in this story, please let me know. An idea a day, keeps the writers block away. Or so they say.**

 **Kwei-Bhu'ja: Sly-Ghost**

 **Kuj'hade: Destroyer**

 **Kha'bj-te: Maniac**

 **Pauk: Fuck**

 **pyode amedha: Soft meat**

 **Tarei'hsan-Thwei: Scorpion-Blood**

 **Thwei-Sain'ja: Blood-Warrior**


	10. Chapter 10

No instruction included

Inspiration: Sing me to sleep By: Alan Walker (Marshmello remix)

 **xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

There weren't as many Yautja waiting in the clan ship for us as I'd expected. There was a total of 8 present, including Tarei'hsan. The one beside him wore the same armor, but he had a large red cape draped across his shoulders that touched the floor of the ship. Right away I could tell that he was important. They all had their bio masks off, and it was amazing to compare the differences between each one. They were all obviously the same race, but like humans, they all had their own defining features. Some had bigger brow ridges than the others, while some had larger mandibles.

The Yautja in charge was the most striking of them all. He was slightly taller than the rest, (obviously not taller than the three boys) and he had thicker muscles. His dreads hung down by his biceps, and the tusks on his brow ridge were thicker and long enough that they curved inward toward his head. I wasn't entirely sure, but I assumed the appendages acted to show their age. The older they were, the longer they grew.

"That is the clan leader." Kwei-Bhu'ja said to me, feeling my question bubbling at the surface.

I looked up quickly to acknowledge him, then redirected my vision back to the clan leader as we began moving toward the greeting party. My heart thumped in my chest with anticipation. I wasn't afraid of these Yautja (although I probably should have been), given the fact that Amani had informed me that my 3 were much more aggressive than any normal Yautja. So, I assumed if push came to shove, they'd at least be able to hold off the few in the hangar long enough to get our asses back into the ship if shit was to go south.

We stopped in front of the clan leader, and Kwei-Bhu'ja stayed silent for a moment. As their designated speaker, he was the one to greet the clan leader first. He stepped forward, then extended his arm. Immediately the clan leader grasped his forearm, giving it a heavy shake, before clasping his other hand against Kwei-Bhu'ja's shoulder. This was a more formal greeting, leaving no room for misinterpretation between the two with a simple shoulder cuffing, which I guaranteed would have been taken as aggression.

"Greetings honored guests. Welcome to the clan ship of the Th'syra Sain'ja. My name is Dhi'rauta." He released his hold on Kwei-Bhu'ja, then took a step back to a respectful distance.

Kwei-Bhu'ja stayed silent for a few moments, whether in contemplation or simply because he didn't care to respond. Dhi'rauta took notice, and I watched as his fist began to tighten at his waist. I could feel the energy of the room quickly shifting to one of hostility, and I honestly didn't want to be a part of it. I looked up to my side at Kwei-Bhu'ja, and when he didn't make any move, to speak or to acknowledge the clan leader, I slowly began backing away. My foot lifted off the ground, and Dhi'rauta's gaze snapped to me. I could see from the corner of my eye both boys stand taller, prepared to fight if Kwei-Bhu'ja considered it necessary.

As soon as my foot planted itself behind me, and before I could turn tail and run, Kwei-Bhu'ja decided to speak up.

"We are honored to be here Dhi'rauta, and I hope my Sain'ja mei'hswei are fruitful in their pursuits on your ship."

"Only Sain'ja mei'hswei?" He replied, tilting his head to the side and giving Kwei-Bhu'ja a curious look.

I didn't know what the second word meant, but I assumed he was talking about Kuj'hade and Thwei-Sain'ja, and if that was the case, he just implied that he hoped they both were successful in finding a lady friend to get down and dirty with. I felt like it was a strange thing to just up and say to another person you just met (or Yautja for that matter), regardless of the status of said Yautja. But I was beginning to learn that not only were they all pretty blunt about what they wanted to convey in their words, but also that the three SY I had found as companions didn't downright give a rat's ass about etiquette.

I also remembered what he had implied on the ship just moments before we landed, saying he didn't have a need to find companionship with a female of their species, because I had already pretty much made my 'intentions' clear. I hoped to the heavens above that the clan leader wouldn't say anything to Kwei-Bhu'ja about the obvious implications he'd just dropped, mostly because I didn't want another near altercation to happen just minutes after we'd stepped foot onto uncharted territory. And I assumed it would look bad on Tarei'hsan's judgement, if they were to get into a fight with the clan leader, after he invited them on Amani's behalf.

Kwei-Bhu'ja made a small growling noise as a warning, but not loud enough to be taken aggressively by Dhi'rauta.

"Sei-i. Mei'hswei." He replied, folding his arms over his chest. The clan leader turned his head to survey the other two, then his gaze lazily roamed in my direction. His eyes were a piercing red color, and the deep stare he presented me with had a shiver running down my spine. And not the good kind either. I slowly began inching my way behind Kwei-Bhu'ja, so that half of my body was shielded from his view. I reached my hand up, clasping Kwei-Bhu'ja's side for comfort, and the immediate purr I felt rumble off his back made me jump slightly.

I looked to find him standing taller than before, while Dhi'rauta tilted his head and began clicking his mandibles in another curious sound. I would later find out that not only had I initiated another touch to show that I obviously felt I needed his protection, but I had also basically claimed him by initiating contact with him in the presence of so many other Yautja.

"Your eta is very brave, is it not?" Dhi'rauta stated. The muscles in Kwei-Bhu'ja's body went rigid for the millionth time.

"H'ko. Not eta." He replied, relaxing and flexing his muscles repeatedly.

"Lou-dte kale?" That word put Kwei-Bhu'ja on edge, and I could tell that they were still talking about me. It was bad enough that my translator wasn't deciphering half of the words they were saying, but to be ignored completely in a conversation like I was a child made me beyond irritated.

"I'm right here you know. I'm not deaf." I stepped from behind Kwei-Bhu'ja slightly, squaring my shoulders. Dhi'rauta's head whipped in my direction, and I could practically feel spikes propelling themselves out of his eyes to pierce my very heart. He slowly leveled his gaze back to Kwei-Bhu'ja, grunting in a displeased manner.

"It is also very rude."

Kwei-Bhu'ja began lightly clicking his mandibles together, whether because he didn't want the clan leader to know he was laughing, or because he wanted to mock him even further. He grabbed my shoulder with his large hand, and moved me out beside him where I could no longer hide. I pressed myself against him, refusing to be in such open proximity to the alien that was clearly offended by my boldness.

"Sei-i. She does as she wishes." These words clearly sparked a reaction out of the clan leader. He squared his shoulders and began growling, but before he could take a step forward and initiate a brawl, Tarei'hsan stepped between them.

"Perhaps we should fill our bellies to soothe our aggressions. Our guests have been without provisions for quite some time, honored clan leader." He had his head lowered as he spoke, a universal submission pose to try and diffuse the situation. Dhi'rauta stayed silent for a while, the tension still mounting with the anticipation of a fight, before he swung himself around and began walking away.

"Come." Was all he said, before the other Yautja began filing in behind him.

 **xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

As we made it to the dining hall, I could see Amani waiting by the doors for our arrival. She scanned the group, physically relaxing when she noticed that no one seemed to be riled up or hurt. She lowered her head as Dhi'rauta passed her, and gave a longing look to Tarei'hsan before he passed through the oval doors. The moment I approached, she looped her arm with mine, pulling me to the side as the three boys walked in.

"So, how did it go? Please tell me no one tried to fight?" I pretended to slap my hand against my face, sliding it down in an exaggerated motion.

"Oh, my God, don't even get me started. I mean, the boys are pretty much always high strung, but it was like Kwei-Bhu'ja was purposefully trying to ruffle the clan leader's feathers."

"Well, that's a SY for you. Always looking for a reason to throw fists in any given situation. It's bad enough that the clan leader was already irritated that Kuj'hade wants to kill others while vying for females." She shifted her hip, standing in a relaxed position, then leaned in as if she were telling me a secret. "I heard that when asked by females if any males would fight the 'mystery' SY, they all responded no. They tried to make it seem like a zabin wasn't worth their time, but in reality they are all afraid to die doing something that should be fun."

Oh yeah, definitely a big secret. Showing weakness like that probably just made Kuj'hade that much more appealing. They hadn't even met him yet and already they were afraid of the Destroyer.

"Try living with the big guy on a ship for who knows how long. You'd be even more skeptical of him." I replied with a laugh. "But Kwei-Bhu'ja was actually fine until Dhi'rauta said Lou'dte kaly. Or something sounding like that. It seemed to piss him off quite a lot before I stepped in and told them I didn't like being talked about like I wasn't there."

Amani's eyebrows drew together, and she let out a huffing breath or irritation.

"He called you a lou-dte kale. It basically means female child maker. It's a derogatory term that not only insulted you as a human, but also Kwei-Bhu'ja becoming upset at the word confirmed Dhi'rauta's suspicions that he wishes to sleep with you. Or already has, as far as the clan leader knows. This clan isn't too fond on the idea that humans can be mates, or even bred with for simple reproductive purposes. But…since Kwei-Bhu'ja _did_ get upset at the term, it clearly means he's defending your honor, in the even higher hopes that you'll let him into your pants!"

She began hip bumping me, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows. I couldn't help but laugh at her statement, ignoring how my heart rate sped up, and I could feel a heat blooming across my cheekbones. Before I could say anything, she was stepping away from me, propping one arm under her chest, with the other against her chin to take in my appearance. I looked down at myself, then decided to strike a pose, extending one leg out in front of me, allowing the fabric to slip off and expose my thigh tattoo, and placing my hands on my hips.

"You like?" I said, trying to act seductive, before letting a laugh pass my lips.

"Is it another gift from your oh-so-large lover?" She puckered her lips, in a mock Cat Woman face, pretending to swipe her claws at me before standing straight again. "So Kwei-Bhu'ja's the one who bought it first then?"

"Yeah I guess. He said that the vendor was trying to sell it a second time to get more money before he saw that we were with him. Then he got scared and had it sent straight to the ship." We both laughed before whipping toward the dining hall. There was a quick frightened yell from inside, so we both stepped passed the threshold to find the source, silently praying that the boys hadn't gotten themselves into any more trouble.

The scene that presented us was nothing short of amazing. There were small round pits in the floors, with round tables in the center to place food on, while the walkways were between each small crater. Each one was filled with at least 8 Yautja, all talking and laughing with one another. My eyes were drawn immediately to a tall creature walking around with a tray of food. It was taller than me, but I could tell it was still shorter than the Yautja present. It walked on two legs, and it was so skinny I could see the full contour of its body through the wispy white outfit it wore.

Its legs were cocked back like a gazelle, and I could see fleshy colored hooves for its feet. Its skin seemed to be covered in a fine layer of beige hair, and it had the biggest mane of white hair I had ever seen on a creature so far. It flowed beautifully down past it's hips, and when the creature turned my jaw practically hit the floor.

It had a unicorn horn in the center of its forehead.

"They are the Meenrah. They're completely docile, so that's why they're slaves. It's illegal to kill one, because they don't fight back. It would be dishonorable." Before I could retort, she cut me off.

"Not all of them are enslaved, majority still live on their own planet. And they are treated fairly on the ship. It took a while for me to come to terms with them being slaves as well."

As soon as she finished talking, another cry rang out from the far end of the hall. I looked to my left, and could immediately decipher the cause. The boys were out of control. Every unicorn that walked to their table to deliver food or drinks, the tray was snatched out of their hands, frightening the creature. The Yautja around me kept giving the table wary glances before returning to their conversations. I turned my body toward the table and began a purposeful journey.

I reached the table in no time, having to side step a few of the working Meenrah, (they were definitely at least 6 foot tall), and I soon realized the cause of the Yautja's discomfort. They all ate using their mandibles, placing pieces of torn up meats into their mouth, and simultaneously ripping them apart and chewing them with their inner teeth. Their mandibles moved so quickly it was kind of hard to keep up with it, but there was a sort of fluidity and grace about the whole ordeal.

My three companions however, were tearing at their food like they hadn't eaten such readily provided food in years. And likely they really hadn't. They were taking handfuls of the pre-sliced meats, and shoving them straight into their jaws. At one point I was sure Thwei-Sain'ja hadn't even chewed before swallowing the mouthful. And of course, Kuj'hade, the ever-prevailing ass hat he is, was grabbing fistfuls of the boys' food straight from in front of them. As Kwei-Bhu'ja snatched another tray from the hands of the Meenrah beside me, sending it scampering away, Kuj'hade reached his hand over and grabbed the first piece he laid eyes on as soon as the tray touched the table. Immediately Kwei-Bhu'ja slammed his fist down on Kuj'hade's forearm, making him recoil with a roar, and before he could retaliate, he began cramming the food into his mouth.

My eyes connected with Amani as she rounded the space and sank into the seat next to Tarei'hsan, and I watched as she gave a skeptical look to the boys. I followed her lead, wedging myself between Kwei-Bhu'ja and Kuj'hade, both grunting in protest at having to move over. Moments later, another tray was snatched away, and slammed down in the space in front of me. I didn't know what it was, but it was cooked, and that I was grateful for. I started off taking small pieces and chewing warily, the flavor almost exploding on my taste buds. It tasted like a mixture between chicken and bacon. I started stuffing my face with the same abandon as my three companions, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a black hand placed on the plate to grab a handful. I quickly picked up one of the empty trays beside me, gripped it between my hands and slammed it down on Kuj'hade's hand as hard as I could.

He cried out, tucking his mandibles into his face, then slapped the tray out of my hands. Before he could retaliate further, I felt Kwei-Bhu'ja wrap his hand around my shoulder, tucking me against his side. I could feel and hear his laughter as he mocked Kuj'hade, and I looked to my side to see Thwei-Sain'ja bickering with him to leave his food alone. A giant stone looking goblet was placed in front of me, catching my attention. I picked it up with both hands, smelling the contents. It smelled almost sickly sweet, like a smoothie with too many citrus fruits in it.

"It's c'nlip. Very intoxicating." Kwei-Bhu'ja said, leaning down into me. So, it's alcohol. I didn't know if I really wanted to drink it, I could barely handle three glasses of wine on earth. I wasn't too sure I wanted to wake up with a raging hangover from alien vodka.

"Don't worry. It's been watered down for us. Theres no way we could drink it unless it was diluted. We'd get alcohol poisoning too easily." Amani stated, taking a swig of her own drink. Fuck it. I might as well enjoy myself while I was here. It seemed as if the boys were already, and I wanted to be a part of the, albeit very fucked up, merriment they were exuding.

 **xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

About half way into the feast is when the music started. It wasn't music like on earth, with flutes or guitars or even techno beats. It was just simple drums, but with a deep bass that rumbled the floors and made your head pound to the rhythm. I knew the boys were letting loose when they started stomping their feet to the drums. Some Yautja around us started wrestling and fighting, while others were simply falling over with laughter, chittering uncontrollably at some joke I couldn't understand for the life of me. My body felt absolutely wonderful. There was a dull numbness at the base of my skull, and my vision swam in just the right way whenever I moved my head too quickly to say something to Kwei-Bhu'ja.

At one point, I noticed I'd begun leaning farther into his side, practically cuddled against the heat of his skin. But I couldn't find it in me to care that the clan leader kept giving me dirty glances every now and again. He couldn't do shit about it though, given that we weren't part of his clan, or even part of regular Yautja society at that. Kwei-Bhu'ja didn't seem to mind too much either, given that every time Amani said something I found particularly funny, I'd double over, pressing my face into his side, or brace my hand on his thigh.

Kuj'hade had even gotten funnier the moment I started drinking. Either that, or he wasn't talking to me like I was the dirt beneath his feat. He leaned toward me, commenting about how he felt it was sad that he couldn't tell the difference between the male and female Meenrah. I felt bad for laughing, but I couldn't stop the heavy chuckles that escaped me as I elbowed his side. Out of my peripheral, I could see a large figure approaching. I looked over when the figure stopped next to me. It was a rather large Yautja, definitely around Kuj'hade's height, with a thinner waist and, holy shit…those were the biggest alien boobs I'd ever seen my whole time on this ship. I felt incredibly embarrassed for even looking at her. She wasn't wearing a top, and I didn't know if it was just because they were in the comfort of their ship, or if she struts around planet side with her boobs hanging around. At least I wasn't going to ask her.

The moment Kuj'hade noticed her hovering, I was in the back of his mind. He sat at attention, practically throwing himself out of his seat in eagerness. I had to hold back a laugh as I felt Kwei-Bhu'ja rumble beside me. Kuj'hade shot him a dirty look before leveling his gaze back onto the female. I imagined if he were a human, he would be slicking his hair back and blowing his breath into his hand.

"I'm not interrupting you and your ooman companion, am I?" She said, leveling me with a hard stare. Why did every being on this ship want to give me death stares? And it wasn't like I was leaning all over Kuj'hade to begin with either. I wasn't going to admit that I was interested in Kwei-Bhu'ja out loud to anyone any time soon, other than Amani of course, but I thought it was pretty obvious who I came to this 'party' with. As if he could read my thoughts, Kwei-Bhu'ja tightened his grip on me, pulling me in closer to his side. The small movement caught Kuj'hade's eye, and the moment his gaze broke off from the female, she let loose a low growl.

"Am I?" Kuj'hade held my gaze for what felt like an eternity, and I couldn't tell if it was just the c'nlip running through my veins or if something more profound was happening that I wasn't even aware of. I could hear Amani trying to talk to me, but the noise was muffled like someone had placed ear muffs over my head. Words just swam around in my head, barely recognized before the next word filed in, replacing the last with little meaning. Kwei-Bhu'ja shifted in his seat, drawing me out of my gaze, so I looked up at him from my seated position.

I smiled stupidly up at him, leaning closer into his warmth, returning to my conversation with Amani. She gave me a concerned look, for what reason I couldn't tell, as I heard Kuj'hade snap a quick "No." before walking away with the large female. I looked over my shoulder as best I could at his retreating form, until Thwei-Sain'ja shifted in his seat, scooting closer.

"I would leave it alone if I were you." He said, looking at me from the corner of his eye, before pushing another filled goblet of drink in front of me.

"Leave what alone?" I replied, taking a large gulp from the offered cup.

"They have always been naturally at odds with one another, but if you let this continue, they will be at each other's throats." That was all he left me with, before a female walking past caught his eye, and he was away from the table at her heels before I could even respond. I shrugged off the words, deciding to dwell on it more when I woke up in the morning, given that I even remember the night after this last cup of c'nlip. I laughed throatily to myself, feeling Kwei-Bhu'ja lean over my body, winding his mandibles into my hair. My natural instinct was to tell him not to touch my hair, afraid that he would tangle in the curls. The last thing I needed was a fight with an 8 foot tall alien to detangle his mouth from my unruly hair. That was the last thought to file through my brain as I tipped my head back to gulp the last of my most recent cup, before my vision became black.

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 **Thank you to every new person who has favorited my story. It makes me feel amazing to know that people are still interested and finding my story, even after I've been gone for some time. And thank you to everyone who has commented recently. Hopefully this chapter is long enough to sate your desires for an update. Unfortunately, my muse is a fleeting feeling sometimes haha. A certain song played on loop for 2 hours sometimes just makes me wanna type 4000 words into a document. It's all very tiresome really. As always! If you notice any spelling errors, or even have any ideas about what you want to happen in this story for the future, please let me know either in your comment or in a PM. My box is always open, and so is my mind. Also, a very special thank you to my roommate for her ever wonderful character Amani, and her constant ideas for my story.**

 **Puffgirl1952 the 2** **nd** **: Thank you so much, and hopefully this one was worth the wait as well.**

 **Sousie: Not sure if you picked up the hint from this chapter, but there may always be more than just one in the making**

 **Belladu57: Thank you, I'm glad you like my story**

 **Guest: Thank you so much, and sometimes it does feel as if writer's block is pure evil haha I felt for this chapter, that the females fighting for Kwei-Bhu'ja would make it a little too complicated. Grace is a runner, not a fighter haha so for this purpose, a female trying to fight her would only make her distance herself from him. Besides, Kwei-Bhu'ja is a no-nonsense kind of male. He's more likely to knock a female off her pedestal, than let her change his plans.**

 **HubrisBrutus: Here is the next chapter for you! Hope you enjoy.**

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 **Dhi'rauta: Cunning**

 **Eta: Slave**

 **H'ko: No**

 **Lou-dte kale: Child-maker**

 **Mei'hswei: Brother**

 **Sain'ja: Warrior**

 **Sei-i: Yes**

 **Th'syra: Skull**


	11. Chapter 11

Remembering

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The first thing I registered as I woke up was my raging headache. Amani had forgotten to remind me that c'nlip was still in fact alcohol, and therefore still raped your brain for hours the next morning. I rolled over slowly as my stomach lurched, laying onto my back. I draped my arm over my forehead as I tried to recall the night, when my forearm brushed against a small lump on my forehead. I gasped and jerked my arm away before gingerly touching the sore spot with my fingertips. There was a good golf ball sized bruise on the right side of my forehead, I could feel the skin was slightly raised. It felt like hell, so I could only imagine what it looked like.

I sat up in the bed, looking around the room I was in. It didn't look like any of the rooms on the boy's ship, so I guessed we were still aboard the clan ship. The bed I was laying in was what I assumed the typical style of Yautja comfort looked like: round dome like bedframe, with a million plush furs all in the center to create a soft nest. At one point, I had imagined them laying spread out on hard rough surfaces, with some type of artificial heat lamps above their perch like the reptiles they looked to be. Actually, like the reptiles they are, given I was now sweating like a sinner in church under all the furs.

I pushed as many pelts away from me as I could before I untangled myself from the mess. It was still blazing hot, but I couldn't tell if it was just my hangover punishing me in some other way, or if they had turned up the heat while we were partying last night. I grabbed the edge of the bed and began pulling myself out. It was larger than the one I slept in, so when I hefted my leg over the side my stomach nearly jumped into my throat as my foot swung against air where there should have been a floor, and I flipped over, landing hard on my side. I pulled myself up, rubbing my shoulder blade and began to stand.

I stalked my way over to one of the doors in the room, hoping they had the decency to put us into a room with a bathroom in it. Amani had informed me that a lot of the ship was inhabited by un-blooded and young blood warriors. Meaning they had to share communal bathing and toiletry areas. Heavens above, if I had to take a bath with a handful of Yautja, I would grab each of my companions by their bottom tusk and march my happy ass right back onto the ship. Love ya, miss ya, meet me on another trade planet. I walked up to the wall, able to distinguish the outline of the sliding door without having to focus anymore, and began reaching my hand out to the right side where the pressure plate would be.

Before I could come in contact with it, the light above the door flashed a quick red and the door slid back silently. Well I'll be damned. Apparently, the boy's little ragamuffin ship isn't as high-tech as I thought it was. These guys had automatic doors. I laughed lightly to myself as I peered around the bath. It wasn't an Olympic size swimming pool like the one on the ship, but it was still rather large. You could probably fit about 4 Yautja in the tub and still have plenty of room to swing your arms. Why they would be doing something like that? I have no idea. I shook my head before walking toward the tub.

The water was already filled, running on a constant recycling system to keep clean warm water in the tub at all times. I looked around finding a cloth to dry myself with, and even being lucky enough to find some jars with scented oils in them. I popped the top off of a few to smell them, not really being able to distinguish the scent. The last one I popped open smelled really similar to grapefruit, so I grabbed the bottle and poured a bit into the tub until I could smell it rising with the steam. Placing the bottle back down I stripped out of my clothes, then slowly lowered myself into the water. There were no benches for me to stand on while I washed myself, so I opted for holding onto the edge with one hand while I scrubbed the dirt and sweat from my body with the other. Looking over myself, I could see there were a few light bruises on my palms and knees, where I had most likely fallen or hit something. Knowing my luck, I had probably tripped on something, tried to catch myself, and still ended up smacking my head against the ground.

I ran my hand down my face to wipe the water out of my eyes. I really wish I could remember what happened last night. The last thing I DO remember, was Amani yelling something at me after Thwei-Sain'ja left, and then trying to get up out of Kwei-Bhu'ja's arms. I finished scrubbing myself off, then pulled myself out of the tub to dry off. This room didn't have one of the Dyson body dryers as I liked to call it, so I had to make do with the small piece of fur I'd found to pat dry myself off. Once finished, I walked back into the bedroom to try and find a different pair of clothes to wear.

Back on the ship, I'd began sleeping naked so I wouldn't have to wake up in my own sweat and wear the same clothes for days on end until I could get them cleaned. But I obviously wasn't thinking about that in my drunken stupor. I walked along the walls and began pushing random pressure plates until I found the drawer I was looking for. A few of our things had been transferred into the room, including all of my favorite tunics. They were all rather form fitting, yet loose at the same time, so I wasn't going to complain. Plus, I was only ever around the three Yautja, and majority of the time they were too busy in their own spaces to pay any attention to what I chose to wear on any given day.

I could choose to walk around naked, and I doubt any of them would really notice. Well, except Kwei-Bhu'ja now. I felt my face heat up, and a queasy to feeling settle in the pit of my stomach as I recalled how friendly I'd gotten with him last night. I am forever wishing I didn't turn into a ridiculously flirty person the moment alcohol enters my system. I plucked a tunic from the small drawer and pulled it on. It was a light auburn color, and the fur reminded me of my soft sheep skin rug at home. I sighed heavily, before closing the drawer and walking to the entrance of the room.

I stepped close to it, wondering if this one was automatic as well, when the red light flashed quickly above me before sliding the door open. The lights in the hallway were a slightly brighter shade than the room, and even the subtle change hurt my eyes. I held my palms over my eyes, rubbing them softly before peeking them open slowly. When the light didn't assault my eyes again, I began walking down the hallway to my right.

I walked slowly, wondering where Kwei-Bhu'ja had run off to. This place was technically a vacation for the three boys. They didn't have to hunt, cook their own food or steer the ship. They could wander around, fight as many other warriors they wanted, and sleep with as many women as they wanted. My gut clenched thinking about Kwei-Bhu'ja being off with a female while I was still knocked out in the bed. I had no idea why something like that bothered me so much. I mean, YEAH, I was slumped all over him last night, and it was confirmed by Amani that he actually really DID want me as more than a pet. But I still technically wasn't up for something like that. Drunk me? Maybe. Sober me? Definitely not.

As I walked, I saw an average looking male up ahead. I quickly walked up to him, calling out to get his attention.

"Hey, excuse me! Can you help me?" He turned his head quickly, looking at me wide eyed for a moment as if I'd jump and attack his face if he so much as blinked. I furrowed my brow, looking at him confused before realization dawned on me.

"Shit, sorry. You probably can't even understand me." I said, turning slightly to walk around him.

"I can understand just fine." He replied, stopping me in my tracks. I turned to look at him, standing a little closer than I had before. I watched as he took a slight step away from me, eyeing me up and down. Well…I was confused before, but now I was just starting to get a little pissed. So what if I'm just a human? It's not like I have rabies or something. I crossed my arms, eyeing him up and down as well, watching as he seemed to become more uncomfortable the longer I watched him.

"Well, can you tell me where I can find Kwei-Bhu'ja please?"

At the mention of my companion I watched as the male physically stiffened. He quickly pointed in the direction I was heading before stepping even further away from me.

"Eating." Was all he replied before walking quickly away from me. I watched him retreat until he turned a corner. I turned in the direction he pointed and began walking. Well that was entirely…Awkward.

As I got closer to the dining hall, the hallway became more crowded as Yautja were coming and going for food. Occasionally they would step out of my way if they were blocking the hallway, and at first I thought it was simply so I didn't touch them. I could deal with a sentient species not wanting me to brush up against them in a hallway and pass "germs". But as I stepped up to the dining hall doors, the door slid open before I could activate it, causing me to almost run face first into a Yautja's chest.

I placed my hands in front of me to brace myself, palms coming in contact lightly with the male's abdomen. Immediately it was like I'd just shot fire from my palms. He recoiled from me quickly, nearly ramming into the other male that was walking with him, and emitting a strange strangled noise from the back of his throat. I watched him as he tucked all four mandibles into his face and clenched his fists at his sides, before looking over his shoulder. I followed his gaze, when mine eventually landed on the hulking back of Kwei-Bhu'ja seated at a table. I slowly looked back up to the male in front of me, raising my eyebrow when the male behind him grabbed his shoulders and pulled him out of my way.

I stayed standing there, staring up into the widened eyes of the both of them. I took a deep breath, prepared to speak, when I noticed their pupils dilate even smaller. I changed my mind, deciding against whatever awkward conversation would ensue and released the breath id been holding before walking in Kwei-Bhu'ja's direction. I didn't bother looking back as I heard the two figures practically run out of the dining hall.

WHAT.

THE.

FUCK.

What the hell did I do last night, to cause big ass Yautja to be so afraid of me? I approached the table, then lowered myself down into the pit next to Kwei-Bhu'ja. Immediately a plate of some type of cooked meat was slid in front of me. I thought I was hungry before, but the smell of the dish made my mouth begin to water. I picked up a small piece, ripping pieces off of it so I didn't upset my already fragile stomach. I looked up to Kwei-Bhu'ja as he sat silently eating as well, much calmer and slower than he had last night. I wondered what had changed in the short time to cause him to chill the fuck out.

"How are you feeling?" He said, eyes shifting to look down at me. I swallowed the piece before answering.

"Pretty shitty actually. It feels like Kuj'hade punched me in my head a few times." He clicked his mandibles in a laugh before grabbing another piece of raw meat from his plate.

"If he had done that, you would be dead." I looked up at him before rolling my eyes.

"Thanks for that."

"You are welcome."

Yautja's and their damn literal language. I laid my head down on one of my arms so I could still eat, and continued to look around the room. Every once in a while, I'd get quick glances from some of the younger looking Yautja, and then I'd feel Kwei-Bhu'ja shift slightly beside me before they would quickly look away.

"So…What the hell did I do last night exactly?"

Kwei-Bhu'ja stopped chewing for a moment to look at me, before he swallowed and turned to look at me. Oh no. No, no, no please.

"Do you truly wish to know?"

FUCK! I groaned loudly before placing my head back against my arms, gasping when the bruise on my forehead hit against my arm. Kwei-Bhu'ja laughed lightly again, waiting for my response.

"Yeah I guess. I mostly just wanna know why all these guys keep freaking out around me."

There was a sound to my right, and I lifted my head to watch as Thwei-Sain'ja lowered himself into the seat next to me. I looked him over, noticing he wasn't wearing his upper chest straps, and was sporting a very gnarly looking slash along the side of his bicep.

"man, you got fucked up last night huh?" I said, lightly poking his forearm with my index finger.

"As did you." He said, grabbing a tray from one of the eta walking past. The docile creature stopped in her tracks (or was it a he?) expecting him to rip the tray from its grasp, but stood dumbly as it was gently lifted away before being placed equally as gently on the table. I raised my brow as the Meenrah walked away, but chose to ignore the change in behavior.

"It seems everything today wants to remind me of that fact." Both boys laughed lowly before continuing to eat.

"To answer your question, it is because Kwei-Bhu'ja took it upon himself to beat a young blood to a pulp." My head flew up as I stared at Thwei-Sain'ja wide eyed.

He…he what?

"Why would he do that?" I said, turning in my seat to look into Kwei-Bhu'ja's eyes.

"Because he was trying to touch you." Thwei-Sain'ja answered from behind me. "For a moment, he did not remember that you were not his. When he did remember, it was too late."

I continued to stare into Kwei-Bhu'ja's eyes before speaking.

"What was I doing to be so close to any other Yautja?" My heart raced, dreading the words to follow.

"Dancing with Amani. The young blood assumed he had any right to be near you, regardless of you provoking him." Kwei-Bhu'ja answered as I laid my head back down on my arms. I groaned loudly, already wishing the night hadn't happened. Dancing? Of all the things Amani could have drunkenly talked me into, it had to be dancing?

"Did anything else wonderful happen that I should be aware of?"

"As he beat the knowledge into the young blood, you both ran off from the party laughing. Now all the young warriors believe you enjoy making Kwei-Bhu'ja jealous and making him fight for you. That is why they do not wish to be near you."

"I would not call any of that wonderful. Though I did enjoy the feeling of his skull cracking beneath my grip." Kwei-Bhu'ja added.

I wanted to cry so badly it wasn't even funny. I practically flirted a Yautja into my drunken arms, then ran away with Amani laughing my ass off like it was some kind of game. Well, at least I didn't get into too much trouble.

"Wait…Then how the hell did I get all bruised up? Did I trip or something while I was dancing?" As soon as the words left my mouth, they both doubled over in laughter. I crossed my arms, scowling at the table until they finished.

"When we found you both, you had attempted to make it to Tarei'hsan-Thwei's quarters. You were both unconscious on the floor with large bruises on your heads."

"Clumsy oomans most likely tripped and bumped heads." Again, they both broke out into heavy laughter, causing the closer Yautja to turn and stare as I attempted to hide my head.

We sat for a while as I continued to nibble on small pieces of meat, the two boys talking to each other above my head. Amani joined us at the table after a while, Tarei'hsan sitting and handing her a tray of sweet smelling fruits. I gave a small wave as she made eye contact with me, but otherwise stayed silent. She didn't seem to mind, as she was about as hung over as I was. I looked around the hall silently, wondering where Kuj'hade happened to be.

"Hey Thwei-Sain'ja, where'd you run off to last night?" I asked, turning my head in his direction. I watch as he sat up straighter before answering.

"To breed. Many females were interested. They do not see such prime specimens as us very often."

Kwei-Bhu'ja grunted in agreement next to me, and I had to stop myself from laughing after realizing he was being completely serious. The ego of these three never ceases to amaze me, yet continues to grow by the day.

"Then where'd Kuj'hade run off to? Is he pouting 'cause he only was with one female or something?" Immediately Thwei-Sain'ja tucked his mandibles into his face.

"He is still breeding females. No doubt he will sire many offspring."

I sat upright, shaking my head slightly.

"Why? He's rude, and doesn't hesitate to wanna break someone's bones. He's an ass wipe, at least in my opinion."

Kwei-Bhu'ja pulled me into his side and draped his arm over my shoulder. I didn't bother pushing him away, slightly comforted by his closeness.

"These are good traits to have. He will sire many strong pups who will all be as brave as he is. He is not afraid to run into battle, and he knows his worth as a warrior."

"I'll just have to take your word for it." I said, shifting to get more comfortable against him, feeling the starting rumble of his purr against my side.

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 **I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out guys. I've been so swamped with work it's not even funny. But a girls gotta eat right? Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and my friend mentioned to me that it often feels like grace is jumping from one place to the next every chapter, so I'll try and slow it down a little from here and try and draw out the experiences she has in each new next time, and hopefully it doesn't take as long!  
**

 **Puffgirl1952 the 2** **nd** **: I looked for the error and I just couldn't find it. Maybe I'm just fixing it with my brain cause I know what it's supposed to say. Glad you liked the chapter.**

 **Sousie: Glad you like the story. Hope this is as good as the last one.**

 **Apieceofpie4everybody011: I've always wondered what would happen if you got drunk in front of an alien, so hopefully this chapter delivers haha I'm happy you like my story.**

 **Kosongbird: I couldn't make anything too crazy happen haha she's just starting to develop feelings for Kwei-Bhu'ja, and I would have had to get them kicked off the ship if they got too crazy. And thank you very much, hope this chapter is as good as the last.**

 **Haylz93: That's exactly what he's talking about. Remember how Kuj'hade's been messing with Grace from the moment she stepped into the camp? Let's just say, he's normally only interested in his hounds, and breeding females. Haha Glad you like the story so far.**

 **Tenfangirl: My muse hasn't deserted me yet, I'm just an over worked and well payed person haha Hope you like this new chapter.**

 **Sleepyhallow01: So glad you like them all! Hope you enjoy this new chapter.**

 **Guest: I know this probably isn't soon enough, but it's out now and I haven't given up. Hope you like this new chapter too!**

 **Lyn79: Thanks! Hope you like this new chapter.**

 **Neelixonee: Haha! I never thought about it either until I started writing that chapter, and I had to think of something that would keep her creeped out by them for some time. Plus I wanted to show off how much of an incredible asshole Kuj'hade can be!**


	12. Chapter 12

Confusion

Inspiration: Daft Punk- Something about us

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He didn't understand why he began taking an interest in Kwei-Bhu'ja's human, but he knew there was something distinctly ethereal about the female. He'd acknowledged it the moment his hounds had driven her into the camp on the reserve planet. He had never cared about the way people perceived him; You either showed him the respect he deserved, or you died by his hands. The female had neither disrespected him nor praised the ground he walked on, as any human should. He had killed more intimidating creatures for less. He also didn't understand why Kwei-Bhu'ja wanted her to begin with. Yes, she was impressive in her own right, and she had a very curious perception of the things occurring around her. No matter how hard he tried pushing her, at the end of it she'd always fix him with a stare that left him feeling like a young pup being scolded by his forbearer.

However, she wasn't as strong as a seasoned warrior and she didn't have the instincts of a fighter in any way. He'd watched her walk along the halls of their ship, humming little sounds to herself on many occasions. She was as oblivious as prey could get, and yet he found himself wanting to be nearer to her every moment possible. It was infuriating in every way. He didn't pursue females, he was the embodiment of a warrior: strong, aggressive and able to defeat the best of any opponent with little to know damage on his part. He was a Yautja-prime, a specimen to behold, and yet he found his eyes wondering along the smooth, weak skin of the small female and wondered what it would like to be his.

He didn't understand what he even wanted her for. She belonged to his pilot, his leader, his _brother._ The one being he'd lived to fight alongside, took an oath to never betray. The only time he'd ever sought out her company was to heckle her in some way, from cornering her in a room and watching as her eyes dilated with fear, to blocking doorways so she was forced to put her hands on his abdomen and weakly try and push him out the way. Her presence had never annoyed him nor excited him in any way before, and still he couldn't get the memory of last night's feast out of his head.

The way she'd leaned against him as he told small raunchy jokes, pressing her forehead to his arm as if he was the only thing keeping her from toppling to the floor in laughter, to the way she'd slammed a tray on his hands with all the confidence of a true female for touching her food. Even, he grudgingly thought, the way she'd slapped his hand the moment he snatched a tray of meat from one of the servants, dropping her voice low and whispering threateningly;

"If you don't stop scaring those poor Meenrah, I'm never _ever_ talking to you again. ANY of you."

He'd laughed it off in the moment, what a silly concept. That she regarded herself so important in their group, that the mere idea of her silence would scare them. But as she turned away, a feeling he couldn't quite place washed over him. She was _always_ talking, either to herself or to them, whether they answered her (or even listened to begin with). In the small passage of time that she had come to live aboard their ship, she'd become almost a background noise. He'd never considered something worth fighting for, that hadn't been rightfully his to begin with. Yet in that moment he'd come to a conclusion. He would fight for her voice, make her realize he was worth speaking to. For once in his long life, he would pursue a female, and it would be the most glorious hunt. He refused to be defeated.

"Kuj'hade, you return so soon. The pups have been delivered to your kennels as requested. Was there something more you needed?"

He looked up to the kennel master at the mention of his name. He was tall for a humanoid being, but barely came to Kuj'hade's chin and he had almost a chrome pallor to his skin that seemed to change hues as he stood regarding him. He shifted forward, raising his arm to point at a tiny lump laying in the corner of its cage.

"That one? He's useless, we plan to feed him to the bigger pups if he hasn't died by morning." The man said with a nod of resolution.

It was a good idea; the pup was tiny compared to the ones he'd purchased. It didn't jump and yip at the doors or rip at shreds of food on the floors, trying to overcome its litter mates. He would make for decent sport even if they left it alive, used it to train the bigger pups. If it lived till the morning that is. The quills on its back were tiny, almost rounded as if they stopped growing in the womb, and from where it lay curled up, he could see it had near non-existent tusks. It would be destroyed if it trained with the hounds he'd purchased, or even during a hunt. But in the hands of a small, annoyingly compassionate female?

"No." He said, a quick gravelly sound at the back of his throat. "I'll take it."

This would become his biggest betrayal of all.

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I roamed the halls with Amani as she explained what every room on the large ship was for. There were 2 large training rooms, one for unblooded warriors to be trained for their chiva, and the main Kehrite where the seasoned warriors fought each other and the newly blooded warriors. That's where Thwei-Sain'ja, Kwei-Bhu'ja and Tarei'hsan-Thwei were now. I'd planned to go with them and watch, but Amani had insisted it could get dangerous with so many crazy blood lust filled males in one large room. Hell, if she wasn't tryna walk into that room, I figured I didn't need to either.

There weren't actually as many bedrooms as I'd anticipated. There were maybe a few hundred, as most blooded warriors had ships of their own and stayed out on hunts for long stretches of time. Very rarely were large groups of Yautja seen together unless on their home planet Yaut. The only ones who stayed and lived on the ship were the Clan leader, the Females and any males who wished to stay and support their leader. This usually consisted of the Clan leader's children and close family.

As we walked, handfuls of younger looking Yautja continued to move out of my way, making it harder to forget the event of the party. I hadn't MEANT to get drunk, and I definitely hadn't meant to flirt with other Yautja to make Kwei-Bhu'ja angry. I rolled my eyes, linking my arm with Amani's as she laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked, bumping my hip against hers.

"It just, I've never seen that before. Yautja don't scare easy, but your man? He's one intimidating guy." She replied turning us down another long hallway. My face flushed red, and I lowered my head.

"He's not my man, thank you very much."

She gave me the side eye, small smirk playing across her features. "We've had this discussion before, remember? He's not your man now, but he definitely wants to be. And Yautja? They play for keeps baby."

Amani winked before stopping in front of a large door. The design of the door was different than any of the others I'd seen, meaning it wasn't a bedroom or even one of the many infirmaries. After a moment, the light above the door flashed, and it slid back into its slot on the wall.

"I figured I'd show you this room instead of just telling you about it." Amani said, leading me into the space. The wall in front of us was a half circle, and would be a decent sized room if it had any corners to it. The low lighting made it hard to see, but there wouldn't be much to look at if I could. The walls were completely bare, and the same metallic grey as the rest of the ship.

"So...you wanted to show me an weird, empty half-room?" I asked, turning toward her. Amani looked at me, bouncing her brows a few times before turning to face the door.

"Just watch."

She placed her hand against the wall, activating the panel. Immediately the lights turned off leaving us in a pitch black room.

"Holy shit!" I tried to turn and find her as I heard her laugh behind me.

"Just relax and watch. I'm not tryna kill you."

I felt her grab my arm as a slight buzzing noise started up. I looked beneath me as I saw movement, and watched as the floor began pulling away from my feet. Before I could panic, Amani's grip tightened.

"It's fine. Those are just paneling on the outside so the glass doesn't get damaged."

I stood gripping Amani tightly as more and more of the flooring slid away, before reaching the wall in front of us. My heart beat heavy in my chest, and I exhaled a heavy breath as the wall slid back and bright stars were revealed in front of us. My jaw practically dropped as I took in the expanse in front of me. The room was much fancier than the room on the Boy's ship, with its one wall to let you view the stars. This entire room was an observatory, simulating floating out in space.

I stepped forward, tapping my feet lightly to remind myself that I was indeed walking on a floor, and not about to stop breathing from lack of oxygen. As we stepped into the middle of the room, we both sat on the floor to take in the view.

Amani turned to me, laying onto her back and tucked her arms behind her head. "Wanna stay for a while?"

I looked to her and smiled, copying her position. "Fuck yeah."

xXxXxXxXx

 **Thank you to Puffgirl1952 the 2nd ,Tenfangirl, Haylz93, Devilwoman19927, FlyingAtlantis and ZelloZii for leaving me reviews. I'm so sorry i've been MIA for so long, but hopefully this story will get back on track. A little spoiler for you guys, this chapter isn't the direction that I wanted it to take, but it's the direction that it led itself into haha**

 **For all you people who are still with me, thank you very much and I hope this chapter is worth the wait. I know it's a shirt one, but theres so much suspense packed into it it's not even funny. I've been working on my writing skills, and i'm hoping as we go along i'll be able to give you a little more depth into the minds of my characters. Until next time, and definitely not as long of a wait!**


	13. Chapter 13

Unexpected

Inspiration: Kiiara- Intention

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

The room around me was quiet, the elders across the room talking between themselves in hushed voices, yet not loud enough for me to hear. I could see my caregiver giving me skeptical glances from the side, but I was too afraid to look up at her. I didn't understand what was happening. I was woken up early that morning, caregivers frantically forcing me out of my furs. I watched as every personal item in my designated room was shoved into a bag, and I was quickly ushered outside and into a transport ship. No one would talk to me, or tell me why I was leaving.

The room went quiet as the elders all turned to face me from across the room. I remember my hands sweating profusely as I shook in my seat. My caregiver refused to comfort me in the slightest as she normally would. Something was terribly wrong, and it involved me.

"As you know Dhi'rauta, your sire the Th'syra Sain'ja clan leader has taken your eldest kin with him on a clan hunt. While planet-side, they were intercepted by a clan of humans."

I wasn't permitted to attend the hunt as I was too young. I hadn't begun training yet, or even gone on my chiva. I'd had a terrible feeling about my sire leaving, but at the time I'd been too afraid to tell him as much, knowing it would have been taken as a weakness. I suddenly felt the same sensation in the pit of my gut as the day he left. Something was wrong, and I was right to begin with.

"None of your kin, including your sire, made it off planet. Their ship has been destroyed and all evidence has been erased. From this moment on, you will be living here until you complete your training. At which point when you take and pass your chiva, you will take over as clan leader for the Th'syra Sain'ja. That, or die trying."

My sire was killed by a clan of humans and lead my kin into the butcher, leaving our clan defenseless so-to-speak until I could take over. It explained the elders harsh words; my caregivers cold demeanor. They felt my sire had bad breeding, made reckless decisions and assumed he could pull others down with him. If I misstep in any way for the rest of my life, I will be seen as a failure by the elders and my entire clan. They expect me to fail, to prove I'm no better than my sire.

I felt like crying, but held myself back. I had to be strong, weakness is seen as the highest offense. I hadn't asked for any of this, and if I'd only told my sire of my feelings to begin with, this all might have been avoided.

"Do not disappoint us."

xXxXxXxXx

I sat at the head of the table as a figure was ushered into the room, listening as they exchanged quick words with one another.

I regarded his figure as he walked forward. He was average height, average build, and had a generally average look about him. The only interesting feature being the diamond pattern on his crest. He wore no intricate rank beads in his dreads, and had very few trinkets hanging from his armor. He was still young, most likely passed his chiva within the last century. He wasn't impressive by any standards, but he had information I needed and the means to carry out my orders. He continued forward, stopping in front of me at a respectable distance before kneeling and saluting me with a first against his chest.

"Yin'tekai Clan leader Dhi'rauta."

I rumbled low in my chest, gesturing toward the seat across the table.

"You may sit." I watched as he slowly sank into the chair, remaining stiff as if ready to bolt at my next breath. My mouth twitched lightly before I forced myself to hide my displeasure. I didn't need to scare him away before I'd had a chance to speak with him. I could still force him to do my bidding in the end, but I'd learned that compliant warriors made loyal allies.

"You have been informed of my kv'var?" I said, knowing he wouldn't be across from me if he hadn't. I watched his face for any subtle reactions. He was still young, and spent most of his time off the clan ship hunting for trophies. He'd not had enough experience around seasoned warriors to know how and when to hide his emotions; his weaknesses. His brow creased lightly, and his lower tusks twitched before settling into a neutral position once more.

"Sei-i, Yin'tekai." He replied. I instantly knew he was unhappy with my request, but he stayed obediently silent. _Good. He at least knows his place well enough._

"And you believe you are capable?" _Force him to prove himself to you. Give him a reason to try harder._ His shoulders widened as he forced himself into a more confident position. I tapped my upper tusks together lightly, reminding him of whose presence he was in. It wouldn't do for him to believe I'd insulted him beyond benefit.

"I am capable. It will be done." He replied, standing from his seat before kneeling and saluting again.

"Good." I regarded him for a moment longer, before coming to a conclusion. He'd asked to leave the clan, find a new one to live among considering he had no familial ties to our ship, in the hopes of vying for new females. I could give him increased incentive, and in the end I wouldn't need him around if he is capable either way.

"If you succeed, I shall grant your request." His head shot up as his tusks splayed wide, before he lowered his head again and began emitting a pleased rumble.

"Ki'sei Yin'tekai." He stood slowly, before confidently making his exit.

"Do not disappoint me, Tarei'hsan-Thwei."

xXxXxXxXxXx

I gazed out the large windshield of the ship, eyes wide and in complete awe as we soared closer to the planet. It was nothing like how I'd imagined it would be, and yet everything I expected somehow. The large hologram they'd been toiling over for the last day since leaving the clan ship behind, hadn't nearly done the planet enough justice. Amani had warned me to be prepared for some truly strange planets.

 _Don't assume every survivable planet is going to be just like Earth._ Gotcha.

The surface had looked initially red, and I was afraid we were headed straight for a Mars-like planet, but as we drew closer, I could make out bright purples and greens where vegetation presumably grew, and a strange shimmering teal where large bodies of water ran, almost as if covered in a metallic coating.

The entire planet looked like it was having a giant rave party; splashes of neon haphazardly thrown around . I knew I wasn't on Earth anymore, or couldn't be anywhere near it; the fact that I am in a ship with 3 giant aliens is testament enough. Yet that didn't stop me from being slightly perturbed by how BRIGHT everything was. Before I knew what was happening, a large lump began forming in my throat, and I could feel my eyes begin to burn in the beginnings of un-shed tears. I slowly began clutching at my chest.

This has to be it: The moment my life as an earthling truly ends. This pain in my chest, is it from despair? Should I be happy to be experiencing these new planets, sensations and cultures? Should I be screaming and fighting, demanding to be taken back to the safety and familiarity of my mid-sized apartment building with its shitty pipes and noisy neighbors? How do I tell myself that it's OK to be enraptured by my new surroundings, yet allow myself to mourn for the life I once had?

"Are you doing well?"

Kwei-Bhu'ja's voice breaks me out of my trance, and I force myself to release the front of my tunic. My hand aches as I bring it back down to my side, and I realize I've reached out to grasp his shoulder as well with my other hand. I release my grip, but keep my palm against his shoulder as an afterthought.

"I'm just...processing my feelings." I say, lightly stroking my thumb across his skin. I feel his purr begin immediately, and he lightly strokes his fingers over the back of my hand before re-assuming the controls.

"It will get easier." He chuffs lightly, his shoulders expanding with the breath. "Go find the others. We will be landing soon."

I laugh lightly at his change of subject, glad for the distraction. "Don't be Kuj'hade and slam the ship into the ground please. I like to be upright at all times." I walk toward the door, waiting for the wall to disappear and let me through, when I remember our doors aren't automatic. Oh, how spoiled I've become in the span of 3 days on the clan ship. I place my hand against the wall quickly, and as I step through the doors, I hear Kwei-Bhu'ja speaking to himself.

"When does she sleep standing up?"

I walk down the hall, wondering where I'm most likely to find Kuj'hade and Thwei-Sain'ja. Kuj'hade recently purchased his hounds at the market, so I figured the first place I should check was the room with the kennels. I made my way in the direction I remembered them being, toward the back of the ship, around a few other rooms I was locked out of on my first few days aboard the ship. I later learned that they were locked because those were the rooms they stored their prey. The humans and other species they captured to hunt on the reserve planet were drugged and placed in transport kennels same as the hounds. The sedatives usually lasted long enough for them to drop them to the surface of the planet.

Sometimes however, the species was resistant to the sedatives, so the doors were kept locked in case they were strong enough to break through the kennel. Thwei-Sain'ja assured it me it had only happened a handful of times, but none had ever been able to break the door down. The SY were a pretty confident species, but that didn't mean I wanted to be near the door on the exact rare occasion that something did succeed in breaking the impenetrable material. I quickly skirted around the storage room, making a beeline toward the door to its right.

As I approached, I could see the light above the space was lit. That meant Kuj'hade was inside. I placed my hand against the sensor waiting patiently for the door to open.

And I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

I tapped my hand against the sensor a few times, and nothing happened.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're really gunna lock me out now?" OK, think about this logically. Maybe he's not just being a huge dick. Maybe he's working with his new hounds. He can't be distracted, and they have to start training immediately. Or maybe he doesn't want me to get hurt by them, or god forbid I hurt one of them by accident. That would be understandable. Safety first, right? I lift my arm and bang on the door, hoping its a sound that can be heard on the other side, and pray he doesn't throw the door open in irritation at me.

"Kuj'hade! We'll be landing soon. Kwei-Bhu'ja says to be ready!" I say, my hands cupped around my mouth, with my face practically pushed against the cool metal. When I receive no reply, I bang my hand against the door once more.

"Kuj'hade? I know you're in there."

Silence.

Fine. I'll play your game. He'll figure out we've landed eventually, at least I did my part.

I head toward the med room in search of Thwei-Sain'ja next. In this section of the ship, there are 5 rooms total. The med room, 3 rooms that have stayed locked, the contents of which I haven't been informed, and the Kehrite. As I walk along, I can start to hear what sounds like heavy grunting and loud footsteps. I whip around, afraid that somehow one of the storage doors had burst open, and whatever was in there has decided that I smell like the easiest snack on board. My heart beats heavy in my chest for a few moments as I realize the hallway behind me is empty, the only motion from the small clouds of fog settling around me. I turn quickly again as I hear a loud thump and a snarl coming from one of the rooms ahead of me.

I stand in place for a long time, weighing the options of investigating, until my curiosity gets the better of me and I approach the room. I stop just before passing by the doorway. Its wide open, and I can hear clearly now that Thwei-Sain'ja is in there practicing. I lean forward, and slowly peak my head around the corner, before stepping past the threshold completely, my jaw practically hitting the floor.

I watch as he steps forward, jabbing the spear in his hands at an invisible opponent. He's quick as lightening as he dodges a would be attack, before throwing a flurry of jabs and swipes one after another. He throws himself backward, landing heavily before crouching and swinging his spear in an upward arch. My eyes try to keep up as he practically dances around the room. Half of the moves he does I don't even understand the purpose of, but holy shit they look amazing. I'd never had the chance to actually observe any of them in action with weapons before.

On the reserve planet I had been too preoccupied with not dyeing -and being dragged around by a group of humans I hadn't actually wanted anything to do with- to take time and appreciate how any of them moved in full out combat. And on the trading planet, Kwei-Bhu'ja and Tarei'hsan-Thwei hadn't used weapons. Majority of it had been wrestling, merely trying to overpower one another. Amani had insisted I steer clear of the Kehrite on the clan ship, because there were so many males in there, that I would have been in the far back of each of their testosterone filled brains, most likely resulting in me getting hurt, causing Kwei-Bhu'ja to rampage in the end. Overall, it would not have been worth it.

I'm thrust out of my own mind, as Thwei-Sain'ja lands in front of me, thrusting his spear toward the center of my face. I can feel the wind of what would have been a blow powerful enough to shatter my skull, and I scream throwing myself backward out of the room. He stands there breathing heavily before he shakes his hand and the spear retracts quickly into itself, leaving it about the size of my arm.

"Have we landed yet?" He asks as I recenter myself.

"No. But we will soon." He turns away, walking toward the far wall to place the spear back beside an assortment of weapons on a rack.

"Don't you need that with you? Kwei-Bhu'ja said we'd be hunting while we're here." He regarded me for a moment, tilting his head to the right, before making his way toward me and slipping out the door. The moment his body passed through, the door slid shut behind him, leaving me staring at it's metal surface. I turned toward him as he began speaking again.

"No. They are for practice." And just like that he was walking away.

"Tell Kwei-Bhu'ja I will be ready."

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Is Kuj'hade OK? I haven't seen him at all, and when I went to get him he was locked away in the kennels." I said, as I walked toward Kwei-Bhu'ja and Thwei-Sain'ja. Everyone had gone to get geared up, and now they both stood at the entrance of the doorway, tinkering with their wrist devices. They had their masks securely in place, and they were quietly chittering away at each other. It must have been their species way of whispering, because the translator in my neck wasn't picking up a word they were saying.

"He is busy with his hounds. He will be going on a separate kv'var to train the new pups accordingly." Kwei-Bhu'ja answered me, giving his wrist a few more taps.

"What are you doing?" I looked up from adjusting my tunic. I had rummaged through the wardrobe in my room looking for something suitable to wear, before deciding on a thicker tunic and sturdier closed toed sandals. I wasn't sure what type of weather this planet had, and I haven't been given anything to wear that could possibly act as armor in any way. I looked between the two, feeling uncertain.

"I'm...getting ready to go with you?" I replied, dropping my hands to my sides. "I thought we were going hunting."

"We are going on kv'var." Thwei-Sain'ja said, reaching up and tapping at his helmet.

"You are staying here." Kwei-Bhu'ja finished, mirroring my stance. I didn't know whether to be upset that I would be missing out on the opportunity to explore a new planet, or relived that I wouldn't have to run around said planet, forced to keep up with two 9 foot aliens, or worse yet, be bait again.

I blew out a heavy breath, rolling my head along my shoulders. "Fine, whatever. I guess I'll just...touch stuff." I said. I could see Kwei-Bhu'ja hold his hand out in my direction, and I rolled my head along my shoulders back in his direction, before perking up at the small device resting in his palm.

"What is it?" I asked, gingerly taking it from him. It looked like a small USB plug for a wireless mouse. I was surprised he was able to tinker with technology so tiny. I laughed quickly to myself, before clearing my throat. _Don't piss off the giant alien, Grace._

"Thwei-Sain'ja is setting up a link now. You will be able to see our movement through his awu'asa. You will be our hult'ah." He said. I turned the device in my hands a few times.

"So I get to be your eyes and ears then?"

"Audio has been disabled on your end. Help is not necessary, we are still alive for a reason." He said, finally lowering his hands and turning toward me.

"Well that's lame." I whispered, only slightly disappointed that I wouldn't be able to talk to them. Although it was probably for the best. They were going on a hunt, hoping to either capture something alive, or kill it to eat- or even just for the skulls- and me talking to them would just be another distraction. Thwei-Sain'ja, always one step ahead of the game.

"OK, so how does it work?" I asked, holding it up in front of me.

"Take it to the Master Room, and attach it to the controls. A light will appear when it is working correctly." He told me, before placing a hand on my shoulder and pushing me in the direction of the front of the ship.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

 **Alright everybody! I've had so much stuff going on lately, that I haven't even had to time to think about getting on the computer and writing. So officially my internet in my house was crapped out, so the only thing I could do with myself was sit down and write my heart away. And I have finally worked out a plot for this story. It started as just random chapters pieced together however I wanted, but there is actually a method to my madness!**

 **Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite-d and followed my story. And to everyone who reads this chapter, thank you for hanging in there. I can't guarantee that the chapters will be out any quicker than they have been, but just know I haven't forgotten about you.**

 **PS: As a side note, the 3 rooms that stay locked are their trophy rooms individually. I only mention this because I'm not sure if she will ever delve further into these rooms. Just know they are there, and they are a thing.**

 **Awu'asa: Armor**

 **Chiva: Trial hunt, needed to prove themselves as warriors**

 **Dhi'rauta: Cunning**

 **Hult'ah: Observer/watcher**

 **Kehrite: Training room**

 **Ki'sei: I understand**

 **Kv'var: Hunt**

 **Kuj'hade: Destroyer**

 **Kwei-Bhu'ja: Sly-ghost**

 **Sei-i: Yes**

 **SY: Super Yautja**

 **Tarei'hsan-Thwei: Scorpion-Blood**

 **Th'syra Sain'ja: Skull Warriors**

 **Thwei-Sain'ja: Blood-warrior**

 **Yin'tekai: It means Honor, but I used it has a way to say honored one/honorable.**


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